Citizens group proposes SMART tax renewal campaign
With the financial future of the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit hanging in the balance, a citizens group announced a campaign Friday seeking to renew a critical sales tax to keep the train alive.
The group, called the SMART Initiative, is seeking a citizens’ initiative to extend the existing quarter-cent tax with no increase for 30 years. A citizens’ initiative requires campaign leaders to collect signatures on a petition to propose a measure. With enough signatures from voters in Sonoma and Marin counties, the measure would require only a simple majority — rather than a two-thirds vote — to pass.
The plan is put a measure on the June 2026 ballot.
“SMART is on an amazing trajectory right now,” said Suzanne Smith, the former executive director of the Sonoma County Transportation Authority, who is serving as chair of the SMART Initiative committee.
Smith said SMART has increased ridership 30% in the past year and has been successful in working toward extending the rail line north. The agency celebrated the opening of the Windsor station on Friday, and announced it is in line for $81 million in state funding to take trains to Healdsburg.
Without renewal, the existing quarter-cent sales tax that collects $51 million annually — or more than half the agency’s revenue — would expire in 2029, forcing the agency to cease operations.
After an expensive and contentious campaign fight in 2020, SMART failed to gain the two-thirds approval for a 30-year extension, leaving the agency financially vulnerable. The measure received a 54% majority vote in favor.
“Recent polling really shows deep community support,” Smith said. A survey presented in April showed overall support of a tax renewal has increased from 65% to 69% in the past year, according to 842 responses from likely voters in Marin and Sonoma counties.
“We have this amazing existing transit system that our community and taxpayers have invested a lot in, and a vast majority who feel strongly that they want to see it continue,” Smith said. “Using the initiative process and letting the majority of voters decide is the right thing to do. We’re going to try to get every vote we can when we qualify this for the ballot.”
Marin County has 173,872 registered voters, while Sonoma County has 314,218, according to the most recent state data posted Feb. 10. A successful petition requires signatures of at least 10% of registered voters between the two counties. That’s nearly 49,000 signatures.
Marin County Elections Department said in order to qualify for the June 2026 ballot, the campaign would have to have all necessary paperwork and a resolution approved by officials filed by March 6.
Smith said it’s a tall task, but she believes the campaign team can get it done.
Campaign leaders include Joanne Webster, the president and chief executive officer of the North Bay Leadership Council, and Michael Pickens, district representative of Operating Engineers Local 3 in Rohnert Park.
While they plan for volunteers to help gather signatures, Smith said they also plan to hire a signature-gathering firm to help. The budget has not yet been established, and the work to build a fundraising committee is just beginning.
For SMART officials, the need for a tax renewal has been hanging overhead. Last year, SMART officials were taking a wait-and-see approach as potential new paths for tax revenue came into play.
Gov. Gavin Newsom approved a bill in the fall enabling voters in the two counties to place a SMART train sales tax renewal measure on the ballot via citizens’ initiative.
Earlier this year, the SMART board directed staff to begin conducting pre-work for a measure to appear on a ballot as early as 2026. A measure pitched by staff would require a two-thirds approval. Staff presented a draft full text measure and associated expenditure plan to the board in April.
The board did not make any decision on when to put the sales tax extension on the ballot.
“We are supportive of this initiative because it provides voters in Marin and Sonoma counties the opportunity to protect their rail and pathway infrastructure investment for future generations,” Julia Gonzalez, SMART spokesperson, said in an email. However, Gonzalez said it is important to make clear that SMART staff are not participants in or managing the campaign.
Marin and Sonoma County supervisors, many of whom serve on the SMART board, also support the campaign.
“I am thrilled and fully in support,” said Marin County Supervisor Eric Lucan, who serves on the SMART board.
Lucan acknowledged that SMART staff have also begun preparing a ballot measure.
“As board members, our job is to make sure that the trains continue to run,” Lucan said. “I don’t think we’ll take the option of the table.”
Other supporters include Senate President pro Tempore Mike McGuire, a Democrat from Healdsburg, and Assemblymembers Damon Connolly, a Democrat from San Rafael, and Santa Rosa Democrat Chris Rogers.
“The SMART Train is essential to the North Bay’s future — it’s how we reduce traffic, fight climate change, and connect workers to jobs and students to schools,” McGuire said in a statement. “I couldn’t be more excited to support The SMART Initiative. Let’s keep decades of progress on track and moving forward.”
In an email, Connolly said, “The initiative ensures that the SMART Train can maintain service, expand access, and keep people moving — while reducing traffic and cutting emissions. It’s a crucial investment for the entire region, and I’m proud to support it.”
SMART also has its detractors.
Novato resident Mike Arnold served as the treasurer for the campaign against the 2020 tax renewal.
Arnold said in pursuing a citizens’ initiative, “the leaders of SMART have conceded that they can’t pass the tax extension measure requiring a two-thirds vote.”
“Collecting the over 45,000 valid signatures will cost their campaign almost a million dollars for professional signature gatherers,” Arnold said. “They’ll find out that changing the rules for passing a regressive tax in the middle of the game is not a winning political strategy.”