Dick Spotswood: Tam District can learn from defeat of Measure A

Despite Marin’s history of passing school-related tax increases, Tamalpais Union High School District’s Measure A lost in the March 5 election. It achieved just 53.75% of the vote.

That result involved 24,331 yes votes out of 45,226 ballots cast. Voter turnout wasn’t a factor. The primary saw participation by 53.24% of Marin registered voters, an increase from the 49.5% turnout in the June 2022 primary.

Measure A was a bond for $517 million in principle, plus interest, aimed at facilities improvements in the high school district serving portions of central and southern Marin. Its campuses include Tamalpais, Redwood, Archie Williams, Temescal and San Andreas.

California law requires school facilities bonds, including Measure A, to achieve a 55% supermajority of the vote. Parcel taxes, reserved for school program enhancements, must secure 66.7% to prevail.

Due to polls which proved to be less than reliable, school trustees and staff led by Superintendent Tarra Taupier were confident that Measure A would prevail.

What went wrong?

Fundamentally, the Tam District’s appetite for school improvements exceeded property owners’ tolerance for tax increases. Marin municipalities, schools and other special-purpose districts have passed multiple taxes for well-needed projects, including school repair and expanded classroom programs, wildfire prevention, transit, parks, open-space acquisition and municipal services.

There’s a limit to the burden voters will tolerate in an era where the costs of home ownership, including insurance, water and utilities, have soared. The days when property tax hikes went unopposed have passed.

TUHSD prepared a list of needed improvements and repairs divided into three priority levels. They mistakenly went for the gold and included all three levels in the tasks assigned to Measure A for funding.

As a bond measure for facilities, Measure A could not include a senior exception. Despite the district’s hands being tied, some opposed to the measure appeared to make the argument that the public should vote no until seniors got a break. It was a myth to say it was possible.

Campaign consultants know that seniors, who form a large voting bloc in aging Marin, are a hard sell for school tax increase measures. However, many seniors have school-aged grandchildren and, like all Marin homeowners, benefit from higher property values due to excellent local schools. Factoring in what senior homeowners would be willing to pay, and incorporating that feedback into the rate structure, should help next time.

The rhubarb over dropping the name Sir Francis Drake High School in favor of Archie Williams had an impact. There remain Ross Valley voters who recall that the name switch proposed by administrators, staff, and trustees, gave seemingly little consideration to the wishes of San Anselmo, Fairfax and Sleepy Hollow residents, Drake alumni or even students.

That disaffected contingent may not be large. But since Measure A needed only 565 voters to pick yes instead of no, it may have been the difference between defeat and victory.

The Marin Coaliton of Sensible Taxpayers, led by Kentfield‘s Mimi Willard, was Measure A’s leading opponent. With A’s defeat, COST became a recognized formidable factor in local tax elections.

Tax proponents criticized COST for ballyhooing that while the bond’s principal was $517 million, when interest costs were calculated at present rates over the tax’s lifetime, the tax’s total outlay was over $1 billion.

While that’s true, this appears to be the first instance in Marin that interest payments were included in campaigning against tax increases. Whether the proposition’s properly stated cost was $517 or $1 billion, it was a lot of money. Measure A was one of the largest bond propositions Marin has ever seen.

Tam District officials shouldn’t give up. The next version at passing Measure A should only include the essential rehabilitation tasks. Trustees and staff must regularly consult with Ross Valley residents – not just parents – and Drake High alumni as partners and work cooperatively with taxpayer groups. That combination is essential toward fashioning a winning supermajority.

Columnist Dick Spotswood of Mill Valley writes on local issues Sundays and Wednesdays. Email him at spotswood@comcast.net.