El Dorado County voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to approve Measure S, a proposed 3/8-cent sales tax for fire and emergency medical services.

The measure would also fund hospital seismic upgrades and wildfire prevention across the county, including areas served by the El Dorado County Fire Protection District near El Dorado Hills and Cameron Park.

The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors placed the measure on the ballot July 21 by adopting Resolution 124-2026. Formally titled the "Emergency Preparedness, Healthcare Access, and Wildfire Prevention Sales Tax Initiative," it reached the ballot through citizen petition under Elections Code section 9118(b), not through the Board itself.

That distinction matters. Supervisor Lori Parlin said at the July 21 meeting that she voted to place it on the ballot only because state law required it. "The County was not included in crafting the measure and there are many concerns about what the measure does and doesn't do," Parlin said. Supervisor Brian Veerkamp abstained.

Supporters say the tax would pay for fire department equipment, staffing and facilities, along with seismic retrofits at Marshall Hospital. The hospital has already spent more than $70 million on state-required earthquake upgrades, and another compliance deadline is approaching, according to a letter published Sept. 11 in the Mountain Democrat by Margo Landrum of Placerville.

Landrum described a Dec. 5, 2021, cardiac arrest call in which El Dorado County Fire Engine 25 EMTs arrived within three minutes at 2 a.m. and revived the patient. She wrote that an ambulance from Folsom would have arrived too late.

Paul Penn, an executive board member of the El Dorado Fire Safe Council, was quoted in Landrum's letter saying fire agencies are struggling to keep up, calling grants increasingly competitive and unpredictable.

The El Dorado County Fire Safe Council endorsed the campaign behind Measure S, known as "El Dorado Ready," as of April 2026.

Not everyone is on board. The measure has drawn opposition from residents who argue it shifts the burden of state-imposed mandates onto local taxpayers, including the hospital seismic orders.

The proposed 3/8-cent increase to the county sales tax would be shared by visitors and residents, supporters say. The measure's projected annual revenue has not been disclosed.

The approaching Marshall Hospital seismic deadline and ongoing fire department funding gaps will keep the debate over Measure S alive through the Nov. 3 General Election.