Voters in the cities of Goleta and Solvang appear to have approved sales-tax increases. 

“Semi-official” results from he Santa Barbara County Elections Office showed Goleta’s Measure B had 63.9% voter approval, while Solvang’s Measure U had 64.8% approval.

An unknown number of ballots remain to be counted.

Both measures needed majority approval (50% plus one vote) to pass and take effect. 

The current sales tax rates in both cities is 7.75% and, if approved by voters, Goleta’s Measure B and Solvang’s Measure U would increase the sales tax rates by one cent or 1% — bringing both cities’ sales tax rates to 8.75%.

As previously reported by Noozhawk, the increase would generate an additional $1.6 million per year in Solvang to support essential services and in Goleta, the increase would provide an additional $10.6 million each year for the city’s budget.

The revenue from the cities’ sales tax would stay in the respective city’s budget and cannot be taken by the county, state, or any other agencies.

After polls closed at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, the County Elections Office released results for all the ballots that had already been received and counted. Additional updates were provided later Tuesday night, and later this week more ballots will be counted. 

Results will be updated again on Nov. 15, which is the deadline for vote-by-mail ballots to be delivered to the County Elections Office as long as the ballots are postmarked on or before Election Day. 

The Santa Barbara County Elections Office will certify the Nov. 8 election results by Dec. 8. 

— Noozhawk staff writer Serena Guentz can be reached at sguentz@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.