BAKERSFIELD, Calif., Aug. 15 (Lake Isabella) — The Kern County Board of Supervisors has placed the California Living Museum Zoo Improvement and Conservation Act of 2026 — a retail-transactions-and-use-tax citizens’ initiative petition — on the Nov. 3, 2026, general-election ballot.
The county’s official meeting recap confirms the ballot placement. It does not identify the proposal as “Measure Z,” a label associated in the supplied records with a separate Fresno Chaffee Zoo measure from 2022.
The CALM proposal concerns a possible expansion and a local sales tax, but several important details remain unavailable in the public information supplied for this report. Those include the official initiative text, the tax’s duration, projected revenue, spending rules and the measure’s official ballot designation.
What is the proposal?
CALM senior director Meg Maitland described the proposal as a 20-year plan that would expand the zoo by about 40 acres. She said it would include new or expanded animal habitats, including habitats for grizzly bears and wolves, as well as an expanded condor habitat.
The plan also has been described as including expanded educational programs and improvements to the zoo’s existing campus. The supplied county recap confirms the measure’s placement on the ballot but does not provide the full project plan or a detailed spending breakdown.
How would it be funded?
The measure’s official title identifies it as a retail-transactions-and-use-tax initiative. News reports based on statements from CALM representatives described the proposed tax as one-eighth of 1% of taxable sales.
However, the initiative text and an official tax-rate document were not included in the supplied records. As a result, the available information does not establish the tax’s precise legal terms, how long it would be collected, what purchases would be exempt or how much money it could raise.
Why is the ballot label uncertain?
The assignment refers to the proposal as Measure Z, but the official Kern County announcement reviewed for this article gives the measure’s full initiative title and does not use that label.
Records supplied about “Measure Z” largely concern Fresno Chaffee Zoo’s separate Fresno County tax measure. That measure is not evidence about the CALM proposal in Kern County. The California Secretary of State’s supplied materials also do not identify an official proposition number or ballot label for the CALM measure.
What happened before the ballot placement?
CALM organizers sought signatures from registered Kern County voters to qualify the initiative. News reports gave different figures for the number of signatures still needed and different deadlines during the spring campaign.
Those reports said organizers were seeking about 30,000 signatures. One report dated April 7 said more than two-thirds of the goal had been collected. A report dated April 23 said the campaign was about 1,500 signatures short, while another dated April 28 said about 3,000 signatures were still needed. The reports also differed on whether the deadline was April 30 or May 7.
The county’s later action placing the initiative on the November ballot establishes that the measure cleared the qualification process. The supplied records do not include an official signature tally or the county’s verification records.
What does the evidence show about conservation benefits?
No scientific study is presented in the supplied records. There are no peer-reviewed studies, research methods, sample sizes, effect estimates or independent evaluations showing that the proposed expansion would improve conservation outcomes, animal welfare, education or the regional economy.
The available evidence establishes the measure’s ballot status and describes CALM’s proposed projects and funding approach. It does not establish that the proposal would cause particular environmental, educational or economic results. Those outcomes would depend on the final measure, how funds were spent and how the expansion was carried out.
For now, the confirmed decision is that Kern County voters will consider the CALM initiative on Nov. 3, 2026. The official ballot title, detailed tax provisions and projected effects remain important questions for the county’s electorate.
