Measure B: Extension of sales tax would keep SMART funded through 2059

Tiburon Peninsula voters will help decide June 2 whether to extend the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District’s existing quarter-cent sales tax for 30 years, keeping the regional train and bicycle-pedestrian pathway system funded beyond its current 2029 expiration.

Measure B would not raise taxes. It would continue collecting the same rate that Marin and Sonoma voters approved in 2008, generating roughly $51 million annually beginning in 2029 and running through March 31, 2059.

SMART currently operates passenger rail from Larkspur to Windsor, with a pathway running alongside the tracks. The district reported more than 1.1 million passengers and 146,000 bicycle trips in 2025.

Proceeds from the extended tax would fund operations and maintenance, capital improvements and system expansion — including planned extensions toward Healdsburg and Cloverdale. An independent Citizens Oversight Committee and annual audits would govern spending.

Supporters, including the Sierra Club, the League of Women Voters, the North Bay Labor Council and chambers of commerce in Santa Rosa, San Rafael and Petaluma, argue the measure protects a public investment that reduces Highway 101 congestion and provides essential transportation for seniors, students and low-income riders.

Opponents, led by the Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers, contend the measure amounts to a permanent tax that will cost future generations $1.5 billion while subsidizing a diesel train with limited capacity. The group argues that free-fare programs for seniors and students — which account for roughly 42% of current ridership — are set to expire in June and carry no guarantee of renewal.

The coalition also points to the measure’s structure as a citizens’ initiative, which requires only a simple majority to pass rather than the two-thirds threshold that applied to the failed 2020 renewal attempt, Measure I.

Measure B passes with a simple majority of votes cast.

More information is available at thesmart­initiative.org.