Starting in early autumn, property tax bills in Marin County will include new details about the County’s unfunded pension liability and post-employment healthcare liability so the public is better informed about County finances.
Marin County Department of Finance Director Roy Given announced the change during the Marin County Board of Supervisors meeting July 30. Given said the decision to include such debt information is in response to public requests and consistent with the County’s mission to be as open and transparent as possible.
Including the information on the property tax bill inserts comes as a compromise with the grassroots group Citizens for Sustainable Pension Plans, which advocated for full disclosure of all assessments on the annual tax statements. Given, who was encouraged by the Board of Supervisors to work with CSPP members, said he plans to provide an opportunity for taxing agencies to provide similar data on a voluntary basis for publication on the County website. Several members of CSPP said they were pleased with the compromise during Tuesday’s Board meeting.
“We invite governmental agencies throughout Marin to collaborate with us to provide agency-specific reporting for our website,” Given said. “Our goal is to create a resource that will be informative and convenient and that will provide greater transparency in local government finance.”
Property owners should receive tax bills in the mail on or about Oct. 1. The webpage, called the Marin County Public Finance Portal, can be found at www.marincounty.org/depts/df/debt-and-pension.