Measure Z leading with 84% as Paradise Cay weighs dredging tax

Measure Z will pass, extending the special parcel tax that pays to dredge Paradise Cay’s canals and the two channels connecting the community to San Francisco Bay, with 84% of voters backing it in early returns Nov. 3. Vote counting was continuing.

As of 8:25 p.m., 16% of voters had opposed Measure Z. The measure needs approval from two-thirds of the votes cast to pass.

Measure Z sets the tax at $2,200 per lot a year in County Service Area No. 29 beginning July 1, 2027. The rate will rise automatically by 3% each year starting July 1, 2028, and the tax will expire June 30, 2037.

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The service area estimates the measure will raise an average of about $272,800 a year for maintenance dredging in Paradise Cay’s principal waterways and the north and south entry channels. The tax applies to lots in the county-run district, which covers the Paradise Cay parcels with canal access rather than the whole neighborhood.

The district’s advisory board is planning its next dredging project for 2028 or 2029, said Eric Lyons, who chairs the board. The waterways were last dredged in 2020 and 2024, and the community typically needs dredging every four or five years, depending on how quickly sediment accumulates.

The 2024 project cost more than $1 million, including permits, planning, testing and other soft costs, Lyons said. The board’s forecast should cover dredging projects during the measure’s 10-year term, he said, though costs have been rising.

Measure Z will continue the existing parcel tax, which is scheduled to expire June 30, 2027. Paradise Cay voters approved the current tax, Measure O, in 2016 with 87.2% of the vote.

Reach Belvedere, Strawberry and public-safety reporter Tyler Callister at 415-944-4627.