What's happening: City Council meets tonight at 5:30pm to vote on forming Community Facilities District No. 2026-1, the mechanism that would carry the Municipal Service Tax renewal to the November 3 ballot. Four resolutions are on the table: forming the district, calling the special election, consolidating it with the statewide general election, and authorizing council members to write the ballot argument in favor.
City staff and Municipal Service Tax Study Committee members gathered at City Hall after Council endorsed renewing the tax back in May. (MVB, May 18)
The background: Mill Valley voters have approved this tax every time it's been on the ballot since 1987, most recently in 2016 with 77% support. It funds road repair and fire suppression work, including the vegetation management that keeps wildfire fuel down around homes. Council endorsed renewing the tax back in May, citing measurable progress on the city's roads: the regional pavement index climbed from 58 in 2016 to a projected 80 this year, though an estimated $22 million of the city's $27 million total road repair bill is still tied up in roads rated fair to poor or worse. Full details on that vote and the case for renewal are here.
What's new: The rate itself isn't changing, $303 a year for a single-family home, same as today, with the same 2% annual adjustment. What tonight's vote decides is the legal structure carrying that renewal forward, through a Community Facilities District rather than the tax's existing format. That shift wasn't part of the public discussion when Council endorsed renewal in May.
What we're watching for tonight:
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