Measure CC on the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot asks voters in the Marin Healthcare District — which owns MarinHealth Medical Center, the county's only designated trauma center — whether to levy a special parcel tax of 14 cents per square foot of improved building area for 30 years. The ballot question estimates about $12.4 million a year. Because it qualified by initiative petition, it needs a simple majority, not two-thirds.

See related North Bay measures on our Bay Area Election 2026 hub, including Marin County Measure P (child care) and Reed Union Measure O (school facilities).

What a yes or no vote means

A yes vote adopts the Marin Safe and Reliable Emergency Healthcare Initiative and starts the tax the first full fiscal year after the measure takes effect. A no vote leaves the district without this dedicated parcel-tax revenue. The ordinance bars spending on district or hospital administrator salaries or benefits and requires annual audits plus a citizens' oversight committee. The tax can be repealed or amended only by another district vote.

Allowed uses are limited to seven categories: expanding and modernizing intensive care, trauma and triage; adding emergency-room capacity; meeting health and earthquake safety standards; adding patient rooms; upgrading operating rooms, labs and imaging; retaining doctors, nurses and specialists; and improving mental health, addiction and suicide-prevention services. The district may also borrow against the tax for capital work and repay the debt with the 30-year stream.

What it would cost

The rate is fixed at $0.14 per square foot of building area — not land value — with no senior or low-income exemption. Backers say state law bars healthcare districts from offering a senior exemption. The Ark calculates that a 2,000-square-foot house would pay about $280 a year, or $8,400 over 30 years. If countywide Measure P also passes, the combined first-year hit on that house would be about $380.

Who is for and against

Supporters, including emergency physician Jason Ruben, Rep. Jared Huffman, the League of Women Voters of Marin County and Marin Professional Firefighters, argue MarinHealth is the only local trauma center, that one major freeway can stretch hospital trips out of county past an hour, and that ER visits have risen nearly 25% over a decade. Some operating rooms date back more than 70 years, the ordinance findings say. Replacing the Redwood Pavilion to meet seismic rules is estimated at $350 million to $550 million, MarinHealth told The Ark.

The sole filed opponent, public-health physician Clay Hess (also a candidate for the district board), calls the tax a long "double mortgage." He cites MarinHealth's $661 million in 2024 revenue, a $24 million surplus and large foundation gifts, and argues advisory oversight cannot stop bonding that locks in the revenue. The district puts remaining debt from the 2013 Measure F bonds at about $575.6 million in principal and interest through 2047, lower than Hess's ballot figures but still substantial.

How to vote

Mail ballots are already out. Tiburon and Belvedere voters may also see Reed Union Measure O and countywide Measure P. For statewide tax rules that could affect future special taxes, see our Proposition 43 explainer.