Supervisors wade into west Sonoma County schools conflict with tourism tax

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, led by its incoming chair Lynda Hopkins, waded into a tense west county conflict Tuesday, approving a March ballot measure that could block the closure of El Molino High School while raising new revenue for schools and emergency services.

The ballot measure would raise taxes by 4% on lodging across most of tourism-dependent west county to generate $2.7 million a year for the Bodega Bay Fire Protection District, the Sonoma County Fire Protection District and west county schools, which were added to the list in a late, hotly debated move by Hopkins.

The funding outlook for all three entities is bleak, hindering the fire districts’ efforts to consolidate, and forcing education leaders to consider closing the El Molino campus in Forestville, a bruising prospect for Hopkins’ home community and a key reason that she pushed to include school funding in the ballot measure.

But the proposed hike on hotel bed taxes is opposed by lodging operators and tourism officials, who noted that it would result in a tax rate on overnight stays of 18%, surpassing Healdsburg, which charges the highest such tax countywide.

Trustees from the West Sonoma County Union High School District also voiced criticism, chafing at the unusual and late-breaking involvement of the county in a local education issue.

Hopkins, who won her second term on the board earlier this year, called the effort to inject extra school funding and spare El Molino the riskiest move yet in her political career. It passed on a tentative 4-1 vote and still requires a second ratification Nov. 30 before it heads to west county voters in March.

“I’ve definitely gone out on a limb … I think it’s about time to do things that are bold,” said Hopkins, who agreed to use her own district funds to cover the estimated $93,000 to $186,000 cost of the election should the measure fail.

The controversial bid could have broad political ripples, empowering county supervisors to stray into arenas typically reserved for others, in this case elected school trustees.

Supervisor David Rabbitt, the lone dissenting vote Tuesday, feared setting a precedent from which a host of school districts could emerge with hands out.

“What we’re talking about is not just augmenting education, but funding programs,” Rabbitt said. “That’s the responsibility of the school district — of the state. Other districts will be looking for that. That’s the slippery slope that is real.”

The ballot measure language endorsed by the board stipulates that the money is reserved for districts “actively working toward regional unification while maintaining existing school facilities and programs.”

The latter half of that provision would seem to bar any campus closures, posing a dilemma for the west county district trustees who are set to decide whether to consolidate their two main high schools, El Molino and Analy High in Sebastopol.

The proposal, driven by declining enrollment and a chronic $2 million deficit, has prompted widespread outcry, particularly in the Forestville area, where parents say the trustees are likely to close El Molino if they move forward with a merger. Preliminary analysis from district officials suggests that unifying Analy and El Molino in one campus, as a rebranded single high school, would save the district about $1.2 million a year.

Instead, revenue from the tax measure could fill the gap, as county figures show the 4% tax increase on lodging would generate an estimated $1.35 million annually for west county schools. The tax would be charged at hundreds of hotels, inns and vacation rentals from Sebastopol to Bodega Bay and from Forestville and along the lower Russian River to the coast above Jenner, cutting off above Salt Point State Park south of The Sea Ranch.

Some community members welcomed the help for schools.

“It’s for districts looking to be fiscally responsible, to unify these smaller feeder districts, and those who are not closing facilities,” said Gillian Hayes, a parent of El Molino students. “I think it’s completely fair.”

Hayes and other parents said the funding will buy the district time to make future budget decisions as the county Office of Education completes its study of district consolidation. Due out next fall or winter, the agency’s report will examine the possible outcomes of the West Sonoma County Union High School District merging with other local districts.

But Jeanne Fernandes, board president of the school district, said she was confused by the requirements in the proposed ordinance, which place the board in the position of either abandoning its current path or forgoing the funds from the county measure, assuming that it passes next March.

The county’s involvement was not welcome, she said.

“It’s not something that the board is even aware of as a unit,” she said in a phone interview before Tuesday’s discussion. “I just find it rather surprising that the Board of Supervisors is making decisions on our behalf. When we didn’t ask them to do that or even know about it.”

Hopkins acknowledged the measure, which she presented Tuesday, was rushed, with staff working overtime this past weekend to attach the education funding portion to the larger fire protection measure she had worked on for more than a year.

The county still has no formal agreement from any school board, although the fire districts are strongly backing the ballot measure. Hopkins said she plans to spend the next two weeks engaging school leaders and building support for the unorthodox solution.

Hopkins is set to hoist the gavel as chair of the Board of Supervisors in just over six weeks, and she made no apologies Tuesday for her proposal or any boundaries she breached.

“Sometimes people like to draw lines between different levels of government – artificial lines…” she said during the meeting. “That model no longer serves us. Jurisdictionality and siloing disenfranchises us as a community. If I see a need, I’m going to go after it. Even if it’s not normal. Even if it’s not the norm.”

You can reach Staff Writer Tyler Silvy at 707-526-8667 or tyler.silvy@pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Writer Kaylee Tornay at 707-521-5250 or kaylee.tornay@pressdemocrat.com.