Carlsbad voters will decide during this November’s election who will serve two district seats on the City Council, who will fill the vacancy for City Treasurer, and whether to amend a Carlsbad-specific law that requires voter approval on certain projects and real-property purchases that cost $1 million or more. 

At Tuesday’s meeting, the City Council called for the following:

• Election of City Council Members for Districts 2 and 4 for terms ending November 2028
• Election of a City Treasurer to fill the current vacancy for a term ending November 2026 
• Whether to amend Proposition H, which voters passed in 1982

Those interested in running for a city elected office can contact the City Clerk’s Office to schedule an appointment during the nomination period beginning July 15.

All about Proposition H

Proposition H, adopted by the voters in 1982, prohibits the city from spending more than $1 million in city funds to acquire or improve real property unless the acquisition or improvements are first approved by the voters.

• “City funds” include sales tax, property tax and the tax visitors pay on stays in hotels and vacation rentals.  
• Some projects are funded with grants, developer fees, assessments or similar sources of funding. These sources of funding not considered “city funds” and their use does not require voter approval under Proposition H.
• The expenditure limit does not include an inflation index. Adjusting for inflation using the regional Construction Cost Index, $1 million in 1982 would be $3.09 million as of December 2023.

On Tuesday, the City Council voted to place a measure on the November ballot that, if approved by the voters, would update the Proposition H expenditure limit to $3.09 million, adjust the limit annually on Jan. 1 by the percentage increase in the regional Construction Cost Index and exempt public safety facilities from the limit. 

The approved question that will appear on the ballot is: 

Shall the voters of the City of Carlsbad adopt the measure amending the city charter and municipal code to: (1) increase the expenditure limit for using city funds to acquire or improve real property from $1 million (the limit established by voters in 1982) to $3.09 million (the 1982 limit in today’s dollars); (2) adjust the limit annually on January 1 by the percentage increase in the regional construction cost index; and (3) exempt public safety facilities from the limit?

The ballot measure was prompted by a recommendation from the Carlsbad Tomorrow: Growth Management Citizens Committee:

During committee deliberation it was discussed that the Proposition H limit of $1 million on general fund expenditures, as implemented by Carlsbad Municipal Code Chapter 1.24, has not been updated since it was passed by voters in the 1982. The committee recommended the City Council consider a ballot measure increasing the expenditure limit due to increased project costs, and indexing it to something like the Consumer Price Index so it can increase over time.

Additionally, the committee recommended the city set aside funding for public safety capital improvement projects, such as fire stations, and specify in a future ballot measure that certain types of projects don’t require voter approval to exceed the spending limit ($1 million).

Since Proposition H was passed in 1982, Carlsbad voters have approved six projects exceeding $1 million, including Fire Station 2 in 2016 and the Monroe Street Pool renovation in 2022. 

Ballot measure timeline

Now that the City Council has voted to put the Proposition H update on the November ballot, the following deadlines apply.

Placing the Proposition H measure on the ballot is expected to cost between $135,000 and $170,000.

Staff contact
Faviola Medina, City Clerk Services Director
faviola.medina@carlsbadca.gov, 442-339-5989

More information
November election staff report
Proposition H staff report
Growth Management Citizens Committee