Parcel tax to fund purchase of Martha property set for ballot

Marin County will ask southern peninsula voters in November to approve an annual $335 parcel tax to help pay for and preserve the 110-acre Martha property on the Tiburon Ridge.

The Board of Supervisors on July 26 voted 4-0 to form a new Tiburon Peninsula Open Space community-facilities district, composed of Belvedere and the area of Tiburon southeast of Trestle Glen Boulevard, and to pose a bond measure to voters in that district on the Nov. 8 ballot.

Southern Marin Supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters was absent to attend a long-planned conference. However, her aide, Jennifer Imbimbo, said Moulton-Peters strongly supported the action.

The measure would seek to issue $23 million in bonds to be repaid over a maximum of 30 years by the proceeds of the parcel tax, which is expected to generate about $1.07 million per year and would carry a 2 percent annual escalator. It would need to be approved by two-thirds of the district’s voters to pass.

The proposed tax is expected to generate $18 million toward the purchase of the property; any remaining surplus that accrues would be used for vegetation management on the land.

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