Two years after Humboldt county voters passed a raft of sales tax measures, Fortuna’s decided it wants in on the action.

The Fortuna City Council unanimously decided last night to add a measure to the November 2026 ballot asking voters to pass a 0.75% sales tax on purchases made within city limits. Its specificities are under discussion.

The city is under immense financial pressure. Revenue is declining; costs are rising. Revenue hasn’t kept pace with inflation, nor has it risen incrementally year-over-year. Fortuna is earning about $500,000 less in sales tax and TOT revenue every year than it was in 2020, and annual liability insurance is also $500,000 more. City staff estimated that the city has lost $1.8 million in purchasing power over the last six years, forcing them to halt hiring police officers and go into a deficit. If enacted, the sales tax would contribute that much to the city’s budget every year, cancelling the losses out. 

Fortuna hired private consulting firm EMC Research to survey Fortuna residents to find out how they’d feel about the tax, and how they feel about the city as a whole. Out of the 200 people surveyed, 64% thought the city needed more money — many even brought up the city’s money woes unprompted — but 57% said they generally opposed tax increases. Those surveyed were split on the proposed sales tax: 46% said they were in favor, 51% said they weren’t. Sharing more information about the fiscal hole the city is in influenced that to a slight “yes” majority; giving them the other oppositional viewpoint flip-flopped those results. A representative from the firm pointed out that the study had a 7% margin of error, so the measure’s passage will be a crapshoot come November. 

In 2024, an identical measure in Fortuna failed with 42% of the vote. 

The obvious conflict between wanting more city services — but not wanting to pay more sales tax — vexed some of the council members. One public commenter, Fortuna resident Orville Garrison, said that it was “disappointing” and “somewhat depressing” that so many Fortunans wanted and expected city services, but weren’t willing to pay for them. 

Mayor pro tem Tami Trent pointed out that the proposed tax hike is the same as Eureka’s sales tax. 

“We need to support our own city and our own services,” she said. “We’re just asking for the same as you pay there. Nothing more.”