By Joe Garofoli
California voters decided five propositions on the statewide ballot Tuesday.
With 24 percent of precincts partially reporting, Proposition 68 was ahead with 55 percent support. The measure would authorize the state to borrow $4.1 billion for investments in outdoor recreation, land conservation and water projects. It required a simple majority.
The initiative was authored by state Sen. Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, in response to what the U.S. Senate candidate called the “under-investment” in parks, wildlands and water systems in poorer communities. It focused mostly on upgrading sites in Southern California.
However, the measure also set aside $200 million for restoring and improving water quality in San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, $3 million to restore habitat along the Russian River, and $3 million toward protection of Los Gatos Creek and the Guadalupe River. At least $10 million was aimed at improvements at state parks in the East Bay.
The returns encompassed 5,077 precincts of 21,487 statewide.
Other initiatives:
Proposition 69 passed. The measure reassures voters that the $5 billion annually raised by the 12-cents-a-gallon tax that Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature approved last year will go toward fixing roads and not other unrelated projects.
Proposition 70 was failing, with 61 percent voting no. It stipulated that the Legislature would need a two-thirds vote starting in 2024 when determining how to spend revenue from its cap-and-trade fund. The idea was to give the minority party in Sacramento a say in how to spend the money.
Proposition 71 passed. The measure calls for delaying the implementation of election results until after all votes are counted — and not merely what is tallied on election night.
Proposition 72 passed. Homeowners who add a rainwater capture system to their homes after Jan. 1, 2019, will not be taxed on the increased value of their property under the initiative.
Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicle’s senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli