Measure X Tax and Flooding Fact Check

Save Our Sausalito works to protect the human scale and natural beauty of Sausalito — and the historic, maritime, and creative character that depends on them. That is why we are particularly concerned about Measure X and issuing this Fact Check. As always, we cite facts and our sources are below.

You may have received a glossy tax scare mailer 😒 from a Sausalito waterfront business group warning that "the water is rising" and your taxes will go up unless you vote for Measure X. The mailer is bunk. Here's why:

Measure X doesn't solve flooding. It puts more in harm's way and lets developers off the hook for the cost.

No Flood Plan in Measure X
Measure X has no plan for flooding and no mechanism to pay for protection: no elevation standards, no shoreline requirements, no flood funding. All it does is allow much bigger buildings on the waterfront, repeal the Marinship Specific Plan, and let future councils rezone without your vote. That's it.

It Lets Developers Off the Hook
The mailer says Measure X makes businesses "pay for the waterfront infrastructure we need." In fact, Measure X repeals the one rule in our municipal code that requires developers to pay their fair share of infrastructure costs.

Your Taxes Can't Rise Without Your Vote
The mailer warns that if Measure X fails, residents will pay for the waterfront. But under California's Proposition 218, no new tax can be imposed without voter approval, and a flood-protection tax would need two-thirds. That decision stays with you.

Flooding is Real. Measure X Makes It Worse.
The mailer is using the risk of flooding to sell a measure that does nothing to stop it. Instead, Measure X allows much bigger buildings on our lowest, most flood-prone ground, and repeals the rule that makes developers pay their share of infrastructure. More to protect and less money to protect it.

Measure X Builds First, Plans Later
Sausalito is halfway through a state-required plan for protecting our shoreline. Measure X would lock in zoning allowing much bigger buildings on our most vulnerable land before that plan is done, making every option harder and more expensive.

Follow the Money
The mailer was paid for by the Sausalito Sustainable Waterfront Association, a group of marina operators and waterfront businesses. Measure X increases what can be built on the waterfront by up to 900%, which makes their property much more valuable. With the fair-share rule gone, the infrastructure costs of new projects fall on the city rather than on those who build them. Great for them. Bad for residents.

No flood plan. More buildings on our lowest ground. Developers off the hook. A city plan cut short. That's the real Measure X behind the scary mailer.

📢 Vote NO on Measure X on November 3.

Sources
1. Measure X text and City reports: sausalito.gov, Measure X (2026). Specific Plan repeal, p. 78; building sizes, pp. 4-5 and 27-29.
2. City Staff Report, July 21, 2026: developer-contribution rule repealed, p. 4; no replacement fees and no flood project funded or required, pp. 14-15. Marinship Specific Plan, p. 64 (Measure X p. 156): "The bayside half of the Marinship is within the 100-year flood zone."
3. Goldfarb & Lipman / BAE Report: shoreline setbacks repealed, pp. 18-19; new development increases the property value and the number of people exposed to sea-level-rise risk, p. 37.
4. City Attorney's Impartial Analysis: zoning changes without a vote, para. 1.
5. Proposition 218, Cal. Const. art. XIII C, sec. 2.
6. City of Sausalito Shoreline Adaptation Plan, draft, January 2026 (SB 272).