The Sausalito Marin City School District took another step this week toward a potential $40.35 million bond measure in November.

The board of trustees, after viewing favorable results Thursday from a poll of district voters earlier this month, voted 5-0 to form an ad hoc bond committee. The committee, composed of trustees Ida Green and Caroline Van Alst, will consult with the community until Aug. 7, the deadline for placing a measure on the Nov. 3 ballot.

“We should be in a space where we can say we did everything possible to get the word out,” said Green, who is board president.

Superintendent Itoco Garcia added he would begin talking about the potential bond measure in social media posts and in email.

The committee was formed after a presentation from Emilio Flores and Abel Guillen of CFW Inc. The firm polled 324 registered voters in the district between June 7 through 13. The pollsters asked voters about their view of the importance of education and whether they would support various major renovation projects at the district’s two campuses on Phillips Drive in Marin City and on Nevada Street in Sausalito.

When the team asked residents if they were likely to support a $40.35 million bond measure to complete those projects, 71% percent of voters said yes. The poll’s margin of error was plus or minus 5 percentage points.

“There is an understanding that education has always been a key to success,” Flores told the board in commenting on the results.

However, he said if the district decided to go ahead with the bond measure, supporters would need to mount a strong campaign. That was because the polling also showed that when voters were presented with various likely opposition arguments, the approval rating dropped to 64%.

If approved, the bond would mean a rise in taxes of $30 per $100,000 of assessed value per property. It would need 55% approval by voters to pass.

Guillen said the district’s current tax rate for outstanding bonds is $16.10 per $100,000 of assessed value — among the lowest such tax rates in Marin for an elementary school district.

“I can’t guarantee that it will pass, but I think you have a good shot,” Guillen told the board. “The key in November will be your ability to get the support you need to get out the vote.”

A similar bond measure four years ago failed to reach the ballot due to a snafu in paperwork. At that time, the proposal was for construction at two separate schools: Bayside Martin Luther King Jr. Academy in Marin City, a traditional district school, and Willow Creek Academy in Sausalito, a public charter school that is under district auspices.

Now, the district has plans to merge the two schools into one entity on two campuses. The final configuration of grade levels and facilities for the unified school has not been decided.

“We really do have to do our due diligence,” Green said. “We need to be completely transparent.”

The board stopped short of voting to have CFW Inc. draft a potential bond measure resolution until the ad hoc committee can get more feedback. The board will likely schedule a special session to decide whether to draft a resolution and, if so, whether to place it on the ballot.

“People have been in shelter in place for the last three months, so they haven’t been spending — they’ve been saving their money,” Green added. “Maybe they’ll be generous.”

Marin City resident Damian Morgan wondered what the impact would be on the district’s lower income residents.

“What should I say to my mother, who is living on a fixed income?” he said. He asked if there were any exemptions for seniors.

Guillen said there were no senior exemptions in bond measures. However, he said many seniors who have owned their homes for decades have low assessment values on their homes due to state Proposition 13, which freezes the assessment values at the time of purchase.

“They are not paying market value on their taxes,” Guillen said. “There’s a built-in protection.”

Jeff Knowles, a Willow Creek parent and board member, said he agreed there was a need to rehabilitate the district’s campuses but he said the district’s polling and outreach on the potential bond measure was lacking.

“I think a bond is crucial for our district, but no one did any outreach to Willow Creek or to the city of Sausalito about this,” he told the board.

“Also the poll questions were confusing,” Knowles added. “As much as we do need a bond, I’m deeply concerned about our ability to pass one.”

A facilities consultant over a year ago said the Nevada Street campus alone needed $31 million worth of work. Both campuses have buildings on them that were constructed in 1945.

Guillen said although the poll results were only a “snapshot in time” and that anything could change in the next few months, he saw enough support in the community to go forward.

NOTE: This story was updated on Sunday, June 28, 2020 to clarify that the previous bond measure four years ago failed to make it on the ballot due to a paperwork issue.