Update: HMU, Sales Tax Add-On Measures Win

Election results show both Hercules ballot measures, Measure O and N, passed with ease.

, for a half-cent sales tax add-on, received 70.12 percent of voters’ support, reported the Contra Costa County Elections Division. It needed 50 percent plus one to pass.

, which allows the city to sell the Hercules Municipal Utility, required a two-thirds majority vote. The measure passed with 76.93 percent of the vote.

As the votes rolled in Tuesday night, Mayor Dan Romero said he was thrilled to hear the measures appear to be successful. He said the potential revenue generated by the measures would give a needed financial boost to the city, which has a 2012-13 budget deficit of $1.5 million.

“There are still some cuts we need to make but this is a big (win) for us,” Romero said. “I think that this says that this council has a true (sense) of what the community needs right now.”

Romero said the council would spend the money on what Herculeans need, “which is public safety.”

Hercules Police Officers Association, which organized a campaign in support of Measure O, should be credited with the measure’s success, Romero said.