By BLEYS W. ROSE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Flush with acquisitions of prominent Sonoma County scenic areas, the county Open Space District wants to ask voters in November to extend the quarter-cent sales tax that funds land purchases.
Officials of the Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District hope to sweeten the tax by channeling some tax money into programs that will support public access to open space land. Currently, the tax raises about $17 million annually to preserve property but doesn't allocate anything for maintenance and operating costs.
Maureen Middlebrook, district spokeswoman, said district officials will approach supervisors in late March with a proposal to reauthorize the sales tax with a new feature that funnels money to an as-yet-unidentified regional or city park system, which would then manage access programs on the open space land.
Although the quarter-cent sales tax does not expire for another four years, open space advocates believe timing is right.
The district has been under pressure to create hiking trails and other public access on property it has preserved, and it has recently protected a number of highly visible chunks of land. Recent high-profile property acquisitions include Tolay Lake Ranch near Petaluma, Montini Ranch near Sonoma, and Saddle and Taylor mountains near Santa Rosa.
Since 1990, the district has purchased or secured conservation easements on almost 69,000 acres.
County Supervisor Valerie Brown, the board's liaison with the district, said the panel is likely to agree to a November election, even though it means two quarter-cent sales taxes will occupy the same countywide ballot.
Advocates of the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit project are polling North Bay residents on voter support for a light-rail plan that includes pedestrian and bike paths.
"You have two issues that should be pretty highly supported by people who care about open space and rail service," Brown said. "The conflict is inevitable, but there are elements that do appeal to the same people."
Bob Jehn, the Cloverdale councilman who also serves as a chairman for the SMART board, said light-rail advocates are now more troubled by expensive transportation and infrastructure projects that are likely to be placed on the ballot by state government.
"The open space tax is not as problematic for the voters because it is a renewal and the public has experience with it," Jehn said. "The rail issue will have to stand on its own."
The sales tax measures will need two-thirds majority to pass.
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