photo credit: Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit

Come June, voters in Sonoma and Marin counties will vote on whether to continue sales tax funding for Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit for another 30 years.

In 2008, voters in Marin and Sonoma counties said yes to Measure Q, a 1/4 cent sales tax to fund the SMART train.

That tax is set to expire in 2029, and if it does, will leave the agency facing a fiscal cliff, and could even force it to shutter service.

In the upcoming June 2nd primary election, voters across the SMART district will have the option to extend the sales until 2059, said Sonoma County's Chief Deputy Registrar of Voters, Wendy Hudson.

"The voters in the district are all of Marin and Sonoma County," Hudson said. "[The measure] would need a simple majority approval of the measure for it to pass."

The measure to extend the tax, dubbed the SMART Initiative, has been put on the ballot through a voter led initiative, not an effort headed by SMART's board.

Thanks to a change in state law, it means the SMART Initiative doesn't need to clear the customary 2/3rds majority hurdle for any new tax.

A previous effort to extend SMART's funding, put before voters in the two counties in 2020, failed, falling short the of the 2/3rds required approval, after a well-funded opposition campaign.

The SMART Initiative, if approved, will not increase taxes, only extend the existing 1/4 cent sales tax, which raises around $51 million a year for the SMART train.

Hudson said regardless of how people vote, "...the vote centers in Sonoma County will be opening starting May 23rd and that ballots will go out in the mail starting May 4th," Hudson said. "...Our drop boxes will be open for voters to use starting on May 5th."

Any questions about ballots, vote centers, drop boxes, or the June 2026 primary, can be directed to Sonoma County's Registrar of Voters office, which has moved to 3880 Brickway Blvd in Santa Rosa.