Pinole Voters Showed Least Support For Clean Water Tax

Among Contra Costa cities, Pinole property owners rejected a proposed additional parcel tax for water pollution control by the widest margin, while El Cerrito voters were the only ones to approve it, according to newly released data.

Only 33 percent of Pinole property owners who cast votes approved of the tax. The Pinole City Council city staff members to reject the measure on each of the votes granted to the city for its publicly-owned parcels.

El Cerrito was the only city to provide a majority of votes for the measure, at 54.9 percent. Among Hercules voters, 42.8 percent approved the measure.

Overall, 59 percent of voters rejected the measure when on May 7.

The percentage of votes cast by municipality were released by a consultant consultant company that worked on the measure.

The mail-only ballot generated some public confusion and criticism because it was conducted under the infrequently used Proposition 218, which permits an election for a parcel fee to pass with a simple majority, instead of the two-thirds needed for a parcel tax. The election was sponsored not by the county elections department, but by the clean water program.

Also, the amount of the tax would have be determined by geographical location, apparently adding to voters' apprehensions.

The measure would have added between $6 and $22 per year on the property tax bills of most parcels. The money would have been used to help local governments meet stricter standards for water runoff that enters streams, storm drains and the Bay. The tax would have come on top of an existing $35 annual fee.

The votes were tabulated by Carol Keane and Associates, CPA, of Walnut Creek.

The defeat of the measure means that local governments need to find other ways to fund measures to meet tightened water-quality standards imposed the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board.