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No On E RVSD
Sneaky Measure E – 67% Tax Hike Lacks Transparency
Ross Valley School District voters beware. There’s a big tax increase with grossly misleading ballot language coming your way on a May 6 special election ballot - when most people aren’t paying attention.Special elections are chosen because low turnout makes it easier to pass an unpopular tax by focusing outreach on known supporter groups.
Measure E seeks to increase RVSD’s parcel tax revenue by 67% (NOT 37% as you might have read elsewhere) from $4.5 to $7.5 million in fy25/6.
The ballot language deceptively describes the tax as “renewing parcel tax authority at 52¢/ building square foot".
Measure E is NOT simply a renewal. It is a sizeable INCREASE in the total tax paid coupled with a complete CHANGE in the methodology to per square foot (instead of the same dollar levied for each property).
As a result, many properties will see a substantial increase. The tax will double for a 2,770 square foot home. Larger apartment and business rental properties will see much higher percentage increases; landlords will pass that through.
Click here to calculate how much Measure E will increase your tax bill next year and over the full nine years.
A per square foot parcel tax is in principle more fair. But the magnitude of Measure E’s total tax increase coupled with the execrable ballot language render Measure E egregiously unfair.
RVSD vows to dedicate the additional $3 million in annual tax revenue to teacher salaries. But the numbers don’t make sense.With just over 100 teachers, that $3 million equates to nearly $30,000 per teacher.That seems implausible. Where does the rest go?
Boosters of measure E argue that it will help property values. But we’re now at a juncture where ever-higher property ownership costs – taxes, mortgage interest, insurance, and utilities – are driving sale prices down. Per Compass’s 2024 yearend real estate report, median home sale prices in 2024 were down from 2022 by 9.4% in San Anselmo and 12.4% in Fairfax.
If voters reject Measure E, we’d expect a retry on the June 2026 statewide election ballot.The interim period provides an opportunity to explore options and build community consensus around the size and structure of the tax, expense economies and honest ballot language.
To learn more about Measure E, visit NoOnERVSD.com