Tiburon group seeks $200K advance on town funds to buy open space

Less than two months after the Tiburon Town Council pledged a $1 million contribution toward the purchase of 110 acres of open space on the southern Tiburon Ridge, fundraisers have another big ask.

The council will consider at its Jan. 18 meeting a new request for money, this one for an immediate $200,000 advance on that pledge to help pay a previously undisclosed $250,000 nonrefundable deposit due by Jan. 31.

Landowner the Martha Co. last year agreed to sell the property for $42.1 million to the Trust for Public Land, which in turn will sell it to Marin County for $26.1 million. Belvedere and southern Tiburon voters in November backed the Measure M parcel tax and bond initiative to pay the county’s share.

The trust must raise the remaining $16 million to pay the Martha Co. by Aug. 30, 2024 — but it was not previously revealed that the agreement requires two option payments, one due this month and the other on Jan. 31, 2024.

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