Marin County is seeking new members for a working group that sets priorities for community housing funds generated by West Marin’s transient occupancy tax. 

The current members of the Measure W working group, which advises the county’s Community Development Agency, met only once before the pandemic to discuss priorities. Now, the nine members’ two-year terms are all up for reappointment.

Applications are open to anyone who lives or works in West Marin. “Folks don’t need to be a part of a housing organization to be a part of this committee,” C.D.A. planner Molly Kron said. “We’re interested in hearing the perspectives of people who are living or working in the area, and are challenged by housing.”

The county accepts members who live outside of West Marin because, Ms. Kron said, officials know how much of the coastal workforce commutes from more affordable areas. “We understand that people have been forced out of their housing,” she said. “So they can either live or work here.”

Voters in West Marin passed Measure W, which established a 4 percent tax on hotels and vacation rentals, in November 2018. Supervisor Dennis Rodoni had introduced the tax, earmarked specially for community housing and fire protection in West Marin, to expand an existing 10 percent transient occupancy tax that already applies in unincorporated areas countywide. Half of the money generated by the tax, which is meant to mitigate the effects of visitors to the coast, is set aside for community housing projects. The other half is dedicated to local fire departments. 

The pandemic’s impact on short-term rentals has meant that the tax has generated much less than the county’s initial estimate of $1.3 million annually. By the end of June, Measure W had generated roughly $1.3 million for community housing since its inception.

The inaugural members of the Measure W working group outlined recommendations for the C.D.A. They decided the county should distribute grants as evenly as possible across the West Marin tax area, regardless of where the funds were generated. Seventy percent should go toward immediate housing production, they decided, while the remainder should go toward rental assistance, needs studies and future larger projects.  

So far, Measure W has funded eight community housing projects totaling just over $350,000, with more than half going to the Bolinas Community Land Trust. 

The land trust received four separate grants from Measure W: $150,000 to convert an accessory dwelling unit on Aspen Road to affordable housing; $50,000 for a down payment on a five-unit apartment building in Stinson Beach; $31,000 to provide emergency Covid-19 rental assistance; and $10,000 toward exploring an aging-in-place pilot program that would allow seniors who are leaving their homes to the trust to take out loans for expenses like property taxes and in-home care. 

Arianne Dar, the executive director of the Bolinas group, sits on the working group and plans to reapply. She said Measure W funds have been helpful for her town because they come with less bureaucratic red tape and have a quick turnaround compared to funds from the federal government or philanthropic organizations like the Marin Community Foundation. 

“Measure W fills in some of the gaps that some of the federal funding can’t,” Ms. Dar said. “It’s all about trying to keep projects moving.”

Ms. Dar acknowledged that the Measure W fund has taken a hit this summer, but she’s happy with how successfully the land trust has harnessed the funding source. “We used more than our share,” she said. 

The San Geronimo Valley Affordable Housing Association received three Measure W grants. Roughly $22,000 went toward water and HVAC equipment for the association’s Sage Lane affordable senior housing project in San Geronimo; $23,000 went toward exploring the purchase of an eight-unit property in San Geronimo; and $23,000 provided emergency rental assistance during the pandemic. The organization’s co-chair, Kit Krauss, is an incumbent on the Measure W working group, and plans to reapply.

West Marin Community Services received a grant of $37,000 to use for Covid-19 rental assistance. Socorro Romo, the executive director of the nonprofit, is another working group member.

The Community Land Trust Association of West Marin is also represented on the working group. Kim Thompson, the trust’s director of community engagement, said she or another CLAM member will reapply. 

“The priorities set by the inaugural committee were good ones, and these funds have substantially helped to provide rental assistance as well as funds for housing development during the pandemic,” Ms. Thompson said. CLAM will likely get Measure W funding next year for its Coast Guard development in Point Reyes Station. 

Scott Hochstrasser, a land planning consultant who lives in Tomales, said he will reapply for an appointment to the working group. He hopes to encourage the county to survey abandoned housing in West Marin to identify opportunities for developing affordable units. 

Although the fire department spends the Measure W funds and then reports back to the county, the Community Development Agency has to work the opposite way, said Scoby Zook, who chairs the Measure W oversight committee. Housing groups had to apply to the county for grants before the tax dollars were doled out. 

The oversight committee is legally mandated to review the spending of tax dollars from any county ballot measure, and last week supervisors accepted its report for the 2020 fiscal year. 

“It’s been wonderful to see how this money’s getting spent,” Mr. Zook said. 

The application period for the working group closes on Sept. 15, and the group will likely reconvene in November. Next year, the new members will have their first chance to bring new recommendations to the Board of Supervisors. 

 

Those interested in applying to serve on the Measure W working group may visit https://www.marincounty.org/depts/cd/divisions/housing/measure-w or call (415) 473.6279.