By Kathryn Reed

Voters in South Lake Tahoe agreed June 5 to revamp the business tax fee, while voters throughout El Dorado County voted out one incumbent supervisor and voted in another. The countywide Measure C also passed.

In Placer County, Measure F passed.

All results from Tuesday’s California are preliminary until certified, but these are the results from 100 percent of the precincts reporting from both counties.

South Lake Tahoe City Manager Tony O’Rourke told Lake Tahoe News the passage of Measure B is a, “A small, but important step toward credibility.”

He also sees this as a test case for summer 2014 when it’s likely voters will be asked to increase the hotel tax and institute an amusement tax.

Measure B will up the maximum some businesses pay – from just more than $3,000 to $20,000 a year – while lowering the license fee for the majority of South Tahoe businesses. The change occurs July 1.

It passed with 55.23 percent of the votes. The vote was 924 to 749.

Measure C, which allows El Dorado County department heads to approve expenditures of $10,000 or less, was approved by 51.11 percent of the voters.

Both measures needed 50 percent plus one vote.

Incumbent El Dorado County Superior Court Judge Warren “Curt” Stracener was the top vote getter with 42.32 percent. He faces Joe Hoffman in a November runoff.

In El Dorado County, three supervisorial positions were up. Jack Sweeney was termed out. Brian Keith Veerkamp was the top vote getter for District 3 with 2,910 votes, or 32.91 percent. Incumbent Ray Nutting came in with 67.93 percent or 5,830 votes. Challenger Ron “Mik” Mikulaco unseated John Knight with 46.56 percent or 502 more votes.

In Placer County, Jennifer Montgomery, who represents Tahoe on the Board of Supervisors, handily won with 53.75 percent. Her nearest challenger, Jerry Johnson, had 16.16 percent.

Kirk Uhler with 60.20 percent was tops for District 4, while Jim Holmes took District 3 with 65.23 percent.

Measure F, which keeps the transient occupancy tax in place for all things Tahoe, passed in Placer County by 84.08 percent. This was not an increase to the TOT, but instead kept the status quo.

Despite the dismal turnout expected in an election where the Republican delegates have selected their presumptive nominee and President Obama stands uncontested, El Dorado County’s turnout is not expected to have the worst turnout.

“Mainly, people in our county vote. We’re always better than three-quarters of the state,” El Dorado County Registrar of Voters Bill Schultz told Lake Tahoe News late Tuesday night.

The Golden State is conducting its first open primary with a mix of various parties on the same ballot.

“It causes a little more confusion among the voters,” Schultz said.

Ted Gaines, who represents El Dorado and Placer counties in the state Senate, declared victory early. The Roseville Republican will face Democrat Julie Griffith-Flatter in November. Four people were vying for the seat.

Gaines, who has a second home on the North Shore, has long been an advocate for Lake Tahoe.

He told Lake Tahoe News on Election Night, “We need to make sure we are looking out for our natural resources and use those natural resources in a responsible manner.”

Reforming government, working to help the small business owner and not increasing taxes are his mantras. Gaines is also a proponent of “good forest management”.

With redistricting, the South Shore will be in the 5th Assembly District, in which Republicans Rico Oller and Frank Bigelow are the top vote getters. Oller represented Tahoe in the Assembly from 1996-2000 when it was the 4th Assembly District.

Beth Gaines, R-Roseville who currently represents Tahoe in the Assembly, is now running in the 6th District, which will encompass parts of El Dorado and Placer counties. She is the top vote getter with 36.9 percent. She will face Regy Bonner in November. Bonner came in with 531 votes more than Andy Pugno.

Statewide, the votes were still coming in early Wednesday on Proposition 29 – the tobacco tax – so it was unable to be called at 1:20am.

Proposition 28, which revises term limits, passed.

Susan Wood contributed to this story.