Larkspur-Corte Madera Measure A Parcel Tax Winning by Slim Margin

By Bay City News Service:

Voters in the Larkspur-Corte Madera School District appear to have narrowly passed a parcel tax measure for school improvements.

SEE ALSO:

• County: 'Routine Accuracy Check' Will Follow Tax Vote

Measure A needs two-thirds approval to pass and it received 66.9 percent of the vote as of 8:15 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Marin County Registrar of Voters.

The vote-by-mail special election was held between April 25 and Tuesday. More than 3,500 voters cast ballots in the Measure A special election.

Votes postmarked on or before Tuesday that may still be in post offices will be picked up on Friday, but the bulk of the ballots have likely been received, according to Dan Miller in the candidate services department of the Registrar of Voters.

Registrar of Voters Lydna Roberts will conduct a public manual tally of a random selection of ballots next Tuesday.

Measure A proposes to add $185 to the existing $484 annual parcel tax that was approved in November 2009. The $679 parcel tax, if approved by two-thirds of voters, takes effect June 1. The tax will raise an estimated $3 million a year based on the amount of the tax for the 2016-2017 tax year and 4,400 taxable parcels in the district.

Measure A contains annual 5 percent inflation adjustments after the first year and exemptions for seniors who are age 65 before July 1. The tax revenue will support math, science, reading and writing programs, maintaining small class sizes, and attracting highly qualified teachers at Neil Cummins Elementary School, the Cove School and Hall Middle School.