Kudos to the county for drafting Measure B. But voters should be wary

It seems like a small price to pay – a half-cent sales tax increase that would generate more funding to fix the Tijuana sewage crisis that has been plaguing our local beaches for decades.

The “Protect San Diego’s Health and Safety Act,” if passed on Tuesday, would hike up San Diego County’s sales tax rate from 7.75% to 8.25%, generating up to $450 million a year for a range of projects in healthcare, public safety and cross-border sewage issues.

The Board of Supervisors would ultimately vote on how to allocate the funds, but the proposal intends to set 22.5% aside for projects in the Tijuana River Valley, 60% to accessible healthcare and childcare, and 17.5% to wildfire prevention. These are only a few examples of how the total funding will be broken down.

The measure does not commit to any one project pertaining to the sewage crisis, but county leaders have said they want some of the funds to go toward building an entirely new treatment plant — one that would capture wastewater coming from the Tijuana River. The current plant only treats what Mexico captures.

The San Diego Taxpayers Association found that on average, a household would face an additional charge of $300 to $315 per year with this tax. That’s an increase of about $108 for each of the county’s 3.3 million residents.