Sonoma County voters approved a local sales tax hike this week to pay for overdue park improvements and upkeep with the passage of Measure M on Tuesday’s ballot.
Measure M won by a required margin of greater than a two-thirds majority, with a total of 70 percent of county voters favoring the tax, according to the Sonoma County Registrar of Voters.
The tax measure asked voters whether they want to establish a one-eighth cent “special transaction and use tax” (sales tax) countywide for a ten-year period, starting next year. The sales tax revenue is projected to deliver approximately $11.5 million for parks every year until 2029 when the tax expires.
Measure M’s victory will culminate a two-year effort by park and open space advocates who began campaigning in earnest after the 2016 failure of Measure J, a park-funding sales tax proposal that barely fell short of the required two-thirds majority vote.
Among supporters rooting for Measure M’s success Tuesday night was Occidental resident Caryl Hart, who was Sonoma County’s Regional Parks Director and a sponsor of Measure J’s proposed half-cent sales tax that narrowly failed on the ballot two years ago.
This time around, “We’re feeling pretty good,” said Hart in an interview Tuesday night from Rohnert Park where the Measure M campaign hosted a party at the Graton Rancheria Indian Casino, a major sponsor of Measure M.
“We’re excited,” Hart told television station KRCB. “I think it shows a recognition by the people in this county of how important and essential our parks are, for so many reasons, from the base economic reasons of how important they are to drive tourists and build the tourism economy to just the other side of it, which is after everything we’ve been through in this county, with the fires, that we need a place for solace and a place to relax and get away from everything that we’ve been experiencing,” said Hart. “So it’s a recognition by people in this county of just how important our parks are.”
Measure M money would provide a new dedicated park revenue source “to improve and protect Sonoma County’s regional and neighborhood parks; safeguard water supplies, streams, rivers; reduce future wildfire risk; preserve fish and wildlife habitat; conserve natural areas for future generations; support community health and expand walking, hiking, and biking trails,” said the ballot measure text.
Measure M revenue will fund improvements and maintenance for both Sonoma County Regional Parks and local city parks. As a special tax, the funds can “be used only for the specific purposes set forth in the full text of the Measure published,” said the county analysis of Measure M.
Measure M expenditure plans include funding support for local city parks, maintenance, safety, and recreation services for county regional parks, trails, and improved access to open space preserves.
Measure M revenues will help renovate older parks, and “protect natural areas, reduce future wildfire risks, expand trails, and preserve access for future generations to get outdoors,” said the ballot argument in favor of Measure M.
“Measure M invests in our community by maintaining city and county parks. It helps us provide and improve public access to the coast, lakes and rivers, and miles of trails connecting our neighborhoods. Incredible parks like Spring Lake, Doran, Helen Putnam, Taylor Mountain, Riverfront, and Ragle Ranch will be stewarded for our community’s shared health, wellness and connection to the natural world.”
The Board of Supervisors will establish an independent citizens’ oversight committee to review the receipts and expenditures from the tax and the committee will produce an annual oral or written report for the county supervisors and respective city councils setting forth the committee’s finds and conclusions.
The new tax would go into effect on April 1, 2019, and remain in effect until March 31, 2029.
The county Regional Parks system has grown to more than 11,000 acres and 150 miles of trails in 56 parks, open spaces and marinas over the past 50 years.
