On May 6, Marin conducted a special election on behalf of the Ross Valley School District. The sole item on the ballot for voters was Measure E. It sought voter approval for a tax increase to support kindergarten through eighth grade schools.

RVSD stated in the ballot summary that the tax was “renewing parcel tax authority.” The lawyer-written statement misleadingly implied a continuation of an existing tax.

Marin County counsel’s impartial analysis states, “The existing Ross Valley School District parcel tax based upon a set amount of money per parcel will be replaced. Instead, an annual levy upon improved parcels shall be $0.52 per building square foot and $95 per unimproved parcel … the rate of the special tax shall be increased by (3%) each year.”

It’s understandable that voters were confused. When in doubt, they tend to vote no.

Despite getting 62.57% yes votes, Measure E was defeated because it required a two-thirds supermajority for passage. Of the RVSD’s 18,452 eligible registered voters, only 7,006 participated in the elections. With a few mailed ballots yet to be counted, that’s a 38% turnout rate.

Low voter participation in single-issue special elections is the norm. Tax proponents claim they selected the May 6 date due to the urgency of adding needed new revenue. Most political professionals know that there is another reason why schools opt for odd special election dates.

School districts and special-purpose agencies regularly place tax measures on dates other than when general elections are held. Those November or June (sometimes May) elections in even-numbered years are when the maximum number of voters participate. In the November presidential election, 85.23% of Marin’s 172,304 registered voters cast ballots.

The political consultants’ recommended strategy is that school taxes have a greater likelihood of passage in a single-issue special election with predictably low overall voter turnout. Tax supporters can rally parents, their relatives and educators to cast favorable votes. That’s despite the inevitable participation of those who perpetually vote against every tax, worthy or not. Since most voters don’t participate, the few who do have a disproportionate impact on the outcome.

Among Ross Valley communities, the yes vote was highest in San Anselmo. There, while still not reaching the two-thirds bar, Measure E garnered support from 65.9%. In unincorporated Sleepy Hollow, 57.6% said yes. Measure E’s poorest outcome was in Fairfax, where just 55.6% of voters were in favor.

Conducting special elections isn’t a free ride. The state and Marin County incur large expenditures to run those elections. Win or lose, the costs are charged back to the sponsoring agency.

Marin’s Registrar of Voters Lynda Roberts estimates that special all-mail elections cost between $6 and $8 per registered voter. Using the mid-range estimate of $7 with 18,452 RVSD registered voters, the special election was an out-of-pocket loss to district taxpayers of about $130,000. Add to that a yet unknown sum that RVSD spent to “inform” (or more accurately stated, to “persuade”) voters about Measure E.

Why did Measure E lose? For one reasons, there was opposition from the Marin Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers.

“(The coalition) is at war with special tax elections,” said Mimi Willard, the president of the group’s board of directors. “They are attempts to game the system.”

The coalition contended that Measure E was a new tax with a new formula, masquerading as continuation of an existing tax plus it said, “RSVD improperly expended public funds to promote passage.”

Fairfax voters weren’t of the “tax-and-spend” variety that some mistakenly presumed.

Tax fatigue has hit Marin just like elsewhere in Northern California. Recent school-tax measure losses include Contra Costa County’s Acalanes Union High School District; the San Jose Unified School District; and Calaveras County’s Mark Twain Union Elementary School District.

The consistent “ask” is overwhelming voters at a time when our recently booming national economy seems headed for a self-inflicted recession.