Ross Valley School District sends parcel tax to June ballot

Voters in the Ross Valley School District will have a second chance to vote on a parcel tax measure in the June 2 election.

The district board voted 4-1 on Wednesday to place a revised renewal and increase on the ballot. The measure needs approval from two-thirds of voters to pass.

The measure would renew the $742 per parcel tax plus approve an increase of $540 per parcel for a term of 10 years. The $1,282 rate would have an annual 3% increase. Exemptions would be offered for residents over 65 years old and those with disabilities.

Trustee Anna Marsh voted no, saying she preferred a $600 increase that would better meet the district’s urgent need to restore fiscal health.

The school district, which is in the bottom 4% of school district funding statewide, faces a budget crunch so acute that it could mean insolvency, school closures and even state receivership in a short time without an adequate infusion of revenue.

Ross Valley teachers agreed to a contract with no raises this year because they knew the district did not have the money.

The district needs a win after the defeat of Measure E in a special election last May, said Tyler Graff, the superintendent.

“June 2 is D Day,” Graff told a standing-room-only crowd of more than 60 people at a public hearing on the tax proposal. “It has to happen on June 2, if we want to create stability for our teachers, stability for our families and stability for our kids.”

The issue was finding a tax level high enough to pay teachers a decent wage, rescind planned budget cuts and restore programs — but not so high as to alienate voters.

“Ross Valley has not asked for a parcel tax increase in 30 years,” Graff said. “The last time the district asked voters for a raise was in 1993.”

He said an increase of $350 would stand a good chance of passage, but the district would still have to make up to $250,000 more in program cuts. A $350 increase would elevate staff salaries only to the middle of the bottom quartile of salaries throughout Marin.

An increase of $440 to $600 per parcel would ease the need for more program cuts and place district teachers in a higher place in the bottom quartile of salaries countywide, Graff said.

An increase of $600 to $750 would relieve a lot of the budget pressures, but some trustees and residents said it would be too much for residents to absorb.

The trustees took the middle of the range by choosing $540 as a compromise.

More than 20 residents who spoke at the public hearing said they would support an increase that made the district whole again. But the actual number differed for each person.

San Anselmo Mayor Steve Burdo, one of the speakers at the hearing, said, “I want to give you the strongest support at the highest level you think you can pass.”

“Your challenge is you need to keep and attract the best teachers,” said Burdo, a parent of an elementary school student who transferred into the district. “I support you all the way.”

Parent Rachel Feibuch said she wants the increase to be “at least $700.”

“It’s time we give the teachers the breathing room and stability they deserve,” she said.

Teacher Barbara Forshee, a 22-year veteran of the district, said she loves her job, but if the tax measure fails, “many of our educators would be forced to leave.” She might be among them.

“My mental health and financial survival come first,” Forshee told trustees. “I hope you will act with urgency and courage.”

Vladimir Vakulenko, who moved his family to the Ross Valley four years ago in part because of the schools, said he was surprised when Measure E failed. Vakulenko said he supports a $750 increase so the district can move up to an average funding level.

“You need to be bold, be brave,” he told trustees. “This is a golden moment.”

Parent Rick Timmins had a more conservative approach.

“Our most urgent need is to make sure a parcel tax passes,” he said. “If we lose for a second time, it will be really hard to come back.”

Timmins said he would support an increase “in the $300s” that would be “more likely to attract no organized opposition.”

The Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers strongly opposed Measure E last year. Its per-square-foot tax system offered small-property owners a lower tax but had large-property owners footing a much higher bill.

It was confusing for many, and the actual amount of increase in Measure E, about $450 per parcel on average, was too high, according to Mimi Willard, president of the Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers.

The organization also criticized the ballot language, which didn’t make clear that Measure E was not only a renewal but an increase as well.

The tax measure this year corrects most of those issues, reverting to the flat-tax-per-parcel system. Also, unlike last year, the district did not call a special election for the measure, another complaint of the coalition.

Even so, Willard said she thinks trustees are asking for too high an increase. The organization suggested $149, but Graff said that wouldn’t resolve any of the district’s budget issues.

Willard said voters in Marin are facing a “tax tsunami of up to 18 local measures” this year from entities that include the Marin Healthcare District and Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit.

“RVSD trustees imprudently swung for the fences, voting to put on the ballot an even bigger tax increase than the one voters rejected in 2025,” she said.