SMART board recommends calling election for tax renewal pitch
A proposed 30-year extension of a sales tax that provides approximately $51 million annually for Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit cleared another hurdle this week.
The rail district board voted Wednesday to endorse the citizens’ initiative for the June 2 ballot. The recommendation to call the election will be sent to supervisors in both counties for final approval.
Resolutions are due to the elections departments by March 6.
“It’s a celebratory day in many ways, as it should be, but also the reminder of — this is just the first stage of actually getting the initiative passed by the electorate,” Sonoma County Supervisor David Rabbitt, a SMART board member, said ahead of the vote.
Rabbitt said getting those votes is going to be another challenge.
“It’s not over till it’s over, and the last ballot is counted successfully,” he said.
Marin and Sonoma voters passed the quarter-cent sales tax in 2008 to fund the construction and operation of a 70-mile passenger rail line between Larkspur and Cloverdale, along with a bicycle and pedestrian path parallel to the railroad.
Today, SMART runs trains between Larkspur and Windsor and has about 40 miles of path. SMART has approved contracts for an extension to Healdsburg, and plans are developing to take the railroad to Cloverdale.
The tax collects about half of the agency’s annual revenue. It is set to expire in 2029. Without a renewal, or some other saving grace, the agency would be forced to cease operations.
In 2020, a SMART measure for a 30-year extension failed after an expensive and contentious campaign fight. The measure had 54% in favor, but it needed two-thirds to pass.
Since the defeat, the need for a tax renewal has been hanging over the heads of SMART officials.
In late 2024, Gov. Gavin Newsom approved a bill that clarified that voters in the two counties are empowered to seek a citizens’ initiative to get a renewal measure on the ballot. A citizens’ initiative lowers the voter approval threshold from a two-thirds majority to a simple majority.
A coalition of SMART supporters announced its citizens’ initiative campaign last year. The coalition began signature collections over the summer. The group filed its petition with a raw count of 71,851 signatures in November.
Elections officials notified the campaign on Dec. 8 that the petition had qualified with an estimated 57,418 valid signatures, more than the threshold required.
The base threshold of at least 10% of registered voters between the two counties is 48,809. Because the count was conducted through a random sample examination, the initiative needed 53,869 valid signatures to qualify, elections officials said.
“The speed and success of the SMART initiative’s voter-led signature drive sends a clear message: SMART is popular, people support it and they want the system to keep running and growing,” said initiative committee chair Suzanne Smith, former executive director of the Sonoma County Transportation Authority. “That level of participation reflects deep community trust in SMART, and real enthusiasm for its future. It also shows that voters understand what’s at stake: maintaining a transportation system that reduces congestion, cuts emissions and connects our region.”
Campaign leaders include Michael Pickens, district representative of Operating Engineers Local 3 in Rohnert Park, and Joanne Webster, the president and chief executive officer of the North Bay Leadership Council.
A group called Friends of SMART helped collect signatures.
“In my effort to approach people to get their signatures, nothing was ever easier,” said Jack Swearengen, a Santa Rosa resident and chair of the group. “All I had to do was say, this is to extend SMART for 30 years with no tax increase — no tax increase. They said, give me the pen. That was it. Simple as that.”
Marin County Supervisor Mary Sackett, the vice chair of the SMART board, thanked the campaign leaders.
“We owe you a debt of gratitude,” Sackett said.
The election is expected to cost the district $700,000.