Marinwood Community Services District Parcel Tax, Measure I (November 2015)

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Measure info Amount: $189.56/unit Expires: Never

A parcel tax change and gann override question was on the ballot for Marinwood Community Services District voters in Marin County, California, on November 3, 2015. It was approved.

Measure I authorized the district to change its parcel tax—a kind of property tax based on units of property rather than assessed value—by making the rate $189.56 per unit instead of $189.56 per parcel. For example, Measure I was designed to charge the owner of a parcel that consists of three separate units—living quarters including sleeping and kitchen space—$189.56 per year for each of the units. Without Measure I, the tax would have continued to apply only once to the entire parcel.

In previous years, the district's parcel tax took in about $328,644 per year in revenue, which amounted to 6.5 percent of Marinwood CSD's approximately $5 million budget.

Notably, Measure I affected the tax payments that would be required for a proposed project to build 224 affordable housing units backed by filmmaker George Lucas at a location called Grady Ranch and 82 housing units proposed for inclusion in the Marinwood Plaza. Charging by unit rather than by parcel multiplied the taxes that would be imposed on the owners of new multi-unit developments.

Measure I was also designed to increase the district's appropriations limit through a gann override—a measure to increase the spending authority of a local jurisdiction— to allow the district to spend any additional revenue it collects because of Measure I. Another gann override measure, Measure H, was also on the ballot. Measure H was necessary to allow the district to spend all of the revenue collected from its previously approved parcel tax, regardless of whether or not Measure I was approved. The gann override provision of Measure I was designed to adjust the district's alternative appropriations limit to account for the Measure I parcel tax change.

A two-thirds (66.67%) vote was required for the approval of Measure I.

Election results

Marinwood CSD, Measure I
Result		Votes	Percentage
a Yes		1,090	75.64%
No		351	24.36%

Election results from Marin County Elections Office

Background

Development and revenue increase

Measure I was put on the ballot in anticipation of two proposed multi-unit residential developments in the district: a proposal for 224 affordable housing units from Filmmaker George Lucas at a location called Grady Ranch and a proposed 82 units as part of Marinwood Plaza. Other possible developments were proposed for St. Vincent’s and Silveira ranches. According to district officials, most already existing property owners would not be affected since there were not many multi-unit parcels in the district. Officials estimated an immediate increase of $1,000 to the approximately $328,644 generated by the per-parcel tax. According to District Board President Tarey Read, after completion, the two proposed developments would provide an estimated $42,461 per year and $14,785 per year in additional revenue, respectively, under Measure I.

Gann overrides

A gann limit, or appropriations limit, is a restriction on how much a local governmental agency is allowed to spend in a year. The gann limits for local governments in California were originally set by Proposition 4 in 1979. The result of this limit is that sometimes a government will collect more revenue than it can legally spend, forcing it to return some of the money. Article XIIIB of the California Constitution gives voters in a governmental jurisdiction the authority to override a local gann limit, allowing the jurisdiction to spend all of its revenue.

Text of measure

Ballot question

The following question appeared on the ballot:

“

To provide park, open space and street landscape maintenance, shall an ordinance be adopted to replace the existing special tax of $189.56 per parcel with a special tax of $189.56 per unit on each parcel within the Marinwood Community Services District, with an annual cost of living adjustment, and to increase the District appropriations limit by the amount of the proceeds received from the special tax?

”

Support

Some supporters argued that Measure I would close what they called a "loophole" in the previous tax that required multi-unit properties that spanned across more than one parcel to pay more than multi-unit properties that did not. Supporters also claimed that the increased revenue from the tax change would help the financially struggling district.

The Marin Independent Journal editorial board wrote an article urging voters to approve Measure I. An excerpt from the editorial is below:

“	Measure I addresses a current loophole and fairness, where all properties should contribute toward a common purpose, such as keeping local parks, the community center, open space and landscaping in good repair. The district faces some serious financial challenges, such as the rising cost of employee pensions. But those can’t be fixed overnight. Some require progressive steps made in negotiations with unions. Local housing proposals, also, are a long way from getting approvals. The district board has been divided on the issue of future development, but it was not divided on the need for Measure I. The IJ recommends a “yes” vote on Measure I.	”
—Marin Independent Journal editorial board

Opposition

Opponents of Measure I argued that Measure I would discourage new development, especially the development of affordable housing, by multiplying the tax imposed on owners of parcels with multiple living units. Opponents claimed the tax could discourage proposed developments such as George Lucas' Grady Ranch and a proposed development in Marinwood Plaza. Critics also claimed the tax would be unfair and regressive by charging the same amount for a small studio apartment owned or rented by a low-income person as an expensive four bedroom house. Critics also argued that, since they would be paying a per-unit tax, developers could require the district to maintain certain public facilities that were previously maintained privately, resulting in a greater cost to the district.

Bruce Anderson, a former president of the Marinwood Community Services District Board of Directors, wrote an article arguing against Measure I. An excerpt of the article is below:

“	Measure I is an anti-affordable housing measure. [...] The measure adds costs to those who are least able to afford it by charging a studio apartment the same fee as a four- to five-bedroom home with six occupants. We all can guess which household will use the parks more. [...] The measure was a rushed event. First the tax was passed by the board late at night, with very little community input. Then, it was approved at a special meeting two weeks later. More time should have been taken to discuss the tax and its method. Perhaps a fairer alternative was available. The proponents claim that no one’s taxes will increase. Tell that to those of us with second units on our property. Our taxes increase as soon as the new tax is approved by the voters. This new tax creates an incentive for developers to build and make public facilities they may have kept private in the past. Vote no on Measure I and send it back to the district board to rethink fairness. They have time.	”
—Bruce Anderson

Path to the ballot

Measure I was put on the ballot by the Marinwood Community Services District Board of Directors.

Related measures

a Marinwood Community Services District Appropriations Limit Gann Override, Measure H (November 2015)
a Marinwood Community Services District parcel tax, Measure G (November 2011)

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Marinwood Community Services District parcel tax Measure I. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Marinwood Community Services District Parcel Tax, Measure I (November 2015) - Google News

See also

• California parcel tax on the ballot
• Parcel tax
• Parcel tax elections in California
• Marin County, California ballot measures
• November 3, 2015 ballot measures in California

External links

Suggest a link

• Marin County Elections Office website