Marin Voters To Decide On Transportation Sales Tax Renewal

MARIN COUNTY, CA – Voters in Marin County will decide in November whether to renew a half-cent sales tax to pay for transportation improvements for the next 30 years staring in April 2019.

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved putting the sales and use tax measure before voters on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Transportation Authority of Marin executive director Dianne Steinhauser said the revenue from the renewal of Measure A that voters approved in 2004 would provide $49 million a year compared to the $27 million TAM now receives annually.

The Measure A that voters passed in 2004 is set to expire in 2025. Steinhauser said the 2004 Measure A did not include revenue for school bus services, ride sharing, rising sea level effects on infrastructure, electric charging stations and finishing the Novato Narrows on U.S. Highway 101.

"There's a lot of new things to do and that the public is demanding. Our needs have changed. We wanted a reset," Steinhauser said.

Even if the Measure A reset fails in November, there is still six more years of the 2004 Measure A left, she said.

Of the $27 million TAM now receives, 55 percent is for maintaining and expanding local transit services, 26.5 percent is spent on local roads and related infrastructure maintenance and improvements, 11.5 percent is for
reducing school related congestion and safer access to schools and 7 percent is for reducing congestion on Highway 101 and adjacent roads, according to the transportation authority.

Money allocated for local road and street maintenance would increase 22 percent if the Measure A renewal passes. More revenue also would go toward Safe Routes to School programs, high-quality transit service and
highway and interchange improvements, Steinhauser said.

Approval of the Measure A renewal will require two-thirds approval by voters in November.

By Bay City News Service / Image via County of Marin