Editorial: IJ endorsements for ballot measures

MEASURE F: On the Nov. 5 ballot, Fairfax voters are being asked to continue the town’s $195-per-year municipal tax that has provided critical funding for the town’s police and fire services, as well as local youth and seniors programs.

The tax, first approved by town voters in 2015, amounts to roughly 10% of the town’s budget.

The Town Council is asking voters to approve Measure F, extend the tax for 11 years and is including an annual $5 increase.

The annual increase in the measure would be better if it required an annual Town Council hearing and vote, but it is a modest increase compared to other tax measures in Marin that have included annual, compounded increases.

Measure F also includes the formation of a special citizens committee with the job of providing annual oversight of the use the tax revenue.

Measure F needs a two-thirds super-majority vote for passage.

This is a local tax and local services that cannot be detoured by Sacramento lawmakers.

The IJ recommends passage of Measure F, a local tax that’s needed to maintain local services on which town residents rely.

MEASURE E: Reed Union School District aims to extend its 2014 parcel tax another 12 years, in the form of Measure E on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Revenue generated annually from existing parcel tax (which sunsets in 2022 if Measure E fails) represents 10% of the Tiburon-Belvedere-east Corte Madera area district’s total operating budget, about $2.5 million — not inconsequential.

Measure E will charge every parcel-holder within the 1,300-student district $589 at the outset, inflating 3% annually through 2031, when the tax would increase to almost $815. The new parcel tax would begin this November if it’s successful and replace the existing one.

District officials say if Measure E does not pass, funding for the equivalent of 23 teachers would be gone. That’s not in the interest of students or the district, which enjoys 20:1 to 22:1 student-teacher ratios at Reed, Bel Aire and Del Mar schools. The measure requires a two-thirds majority, which may have a good chance given the 2014 parcel tax extension’s 78% passage rate. There is no organized opposition.

We do not favor having as many small school districts as Marin does. But Reed Union is not top heavy; there are only four administrators. Funding through Measure E won’t go toward paying their salaries. It aims to retain the 100 or so quality teachers who are paid about $110,000 each, including salary and benefits.
We support Measure E, to keep Reed Union schools on the right path.

MEASURE M: Memorial Park may be the most popular gathering spot in San Anselmo. That’s what a community park is all about and Memorial Park has fulfilled that important role, for young and old, Little Leaguers, dog owners and gardeners and skateboarders.

The park, however, is in need of costly improvements, most importantly to its irrigation and drainage system.

That’s the goal of Measure M on the Nov. 5 ballot. It asks voters to approve a $98-per-residential unit annual tax that is expected to raise $500,000 per year over 30 years to improve and maintain the park. The measure includes a 50% discount available to seniors.

In recent years, the park was eyed for an emergency floodwater detention basin, a project that was going to include needed improvements to the park’s facilities. Town voters rejected that plan, but the park still needs costly repairs– ones that town officials say is more than the town has money for.

The tax would enable the town to sell and pay for bonds needed to get that work done. Given current interest rates, this may be an advantageous time for this strategy.

While Measure M has strong support, it also has detractors, among them former council members and current Vice Mayor Ford Greene, who calls Measure M “overkill” and too expensive.

Getting a tax measure approved with the required two-thirds super-majority when there is organized opposition is politically dicey. In recent years, voters have been asked to approve a steady stream of local, regional and state tax increases. Locally, others are headed for March’s ballot.

Measure M is the result of a community planning process and numerous public meetings. The time is right financially and there is still room for public involvement, in both decisionmaking and continuing the volunteer work that has made the park a well-used and well-loved community treasure.

The IJ backs voter approval of Measure M on the Nov. 5 ballot.