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UPDATE: As of Thursday, Nov. 19 at 4:15 p.m., Measure S maintained voter approval with only a slight drop in percentage of approval from Nov. 3. The measure has passed with 75% approval, giving it a more than comfortable lead over the 66.67% needed to succeed. All precincts have reported. So far, 99% of the county’s ballots have been counted.
Santa Clara Valley Water District’s bid to extend a parcel tax for water protection and flood control indefinitely appears to be winning voter approval on Nov. 3, having garnered 75.4% of the vote as of Thursday evening with all precincts reporting, according to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters.
The Safe, Clean Water and Natural Flood Protection program, or Measure S, needs two-thirds of voter approval to pass, or 66.67%. The measure extends indefinitely funding for the Safe, Clean Water and Natural Flood Protection program, which voters passed by 74% in 2012. Voters approved the district’s Measure B in 2012, a $67.67 per residence parcel tax, which is expected to raise $548 million by 2028 for the Clean Water program, but Measure B only funds projects through 2028. Measure S extends additional funding annually until voters rescind the tax. It won’t increase existing rates — an average $.006 per square foot annually — but the district’s Board of Directors could raise the parcel tax up to 2% annually for inflation.
The program protects the drinking water supply and dams from earthquakes and climate change and reduces pollution, toxins and contaminants in waterways, including San Francisquito Creek in Palo Alto and the wetlands of San Francisco Bay.
Measure S would raise approximately $45.5 million annually, with a qualifying senior exemption, annual audits and independent citizen oversight. It would provide $263 million for flood-control projects, $54 million for seismic upgrades to Anderson Dam, $51 million for removing trash and homeless encampments from creeks, $155 million for creek restoration and wildlife protection and $53 million for environmental education and conservation grants.
Proponents and opponents had argued over the necessity to have an open-ended tax. Proponents said the extended tax would guarantee that work on projects that won’t be finished by 2028 could be completed. Opponents said there was no sunset date for overturning the tax and it could increase annually by 2% on the minimum residential parcel size of one-quarter acre. They also claimed the measure did not allow for adequate citizen oversight.
Trish Mulvey, a member of the Vote No on Measure S Committee, said in an email that the campaign team had no comment on the early results. Her group plans to have a debrief phone call until Thursday afternoon. Speaking for herself, however, she noted there was considerable disparity in funding between the Vote Yes and Vote No campaigns.
“It’s better to have tried and failed, than never to have tried at all,” she said.
She expressed “gratitude to the voters for being so decisive that any nuances of final vote counts won’t matter.”
Santa Clara Valley Water District Board Member Gary Kremen, who supported the measure, was pleased by the early results. “The voters have clearly spoken in overwhelming support of nearly 76% for Measure S,” he said in an email on Wednesday. “Passage means continued protection of Palo Alto homes and business from San Francisquito Creek and tidal flooding, creek restorations and trash removal from homeless encampments as well as the water conservation program.”
The measure will have benefits for Palo Alto and Mountain View. It would fund $31.5 million to continue the San Francisquito Creek project (upstream of U.S. Highway 101), providing flood protection for approximately 3,000 homes and businesses in Palo Alto.
Measure S also provides $46 million to continue the San Francisco Bay Shoreline Projection Project, which provides tidal flood protection; restores and enhances tidal marsh and related habitats; and funds recreational and public access opportunities including in Palo Alto and Mountain View. It also provides $53.1 million for cities, agencies and individuals for water conservation, pollution prevention, creek cleanup, wildlife restoration projects and other benefits, plus $38.7 million to help clean up large creekside homeless encampments that may contaminate creeks.
This story will be updated as more results come in.