What is Measure P?
Measure P is the Marin County Child Care Initiative, a voter-led measure to expand access to affordable, high-quality child care and early childhood education throughout Marin County.
Measure P will create dedicated local funding to help families afford child care and preschool, strengthen and retain Marin’s early childhood education workforce, and expand and improve the places where young children learn and grow.
Why does Marin need Measure P?
For too many Marin families, quality child care is either too expensive or simply unavailable. Parents are forced to reduce their work hours, turn down jobs, drain their savings, or rely on patchwork child care arrangements because they cannot find reliable care.
At the same time, early childhood educators are struggling to afford to live and work in Marin, making it harder for child care providers to keep classrooms staffed and maintain enough spaces for local families.
Measure P tackles both sides of the problem: making early care and learning more affordable for families while strengthening the workforce and facilities needed to provide it.
Why is early childhood education so important?
The first five years of a child’s life are a period of extraordinary brain development. The experiences children have during these years help shape language, physical health, social and emotional development, relationships, confidence, and the ability to learn.
High-quality early care gives children stable relationships with caring adults, opportunities to learn and play with other children, language-rich environments, and routines that help them grow and thrive.
Investing early helps children arrive at kindergarten ready to learn and creates benefits that can last throughout their lives.
What will Measure P fund?
Measure P will provide locally controlled funding to:
- Make high-quality child care, preschool, and early education more affordable and accessible for low- and middle-income families.
- Improve compensation to attract and retain qualified early childhood educators and childcare providers.
- Develop, maintain, improve, and expand early childhood education and child care facilities.
- Strengthen the availability and quality of early learning opportunities for Marin children.
Administrative expenses are limited to no more than 5% of annual Measure P revenue.
How much will Measure P cost?
Measure P begins at 5 cents per square foot of building area per year. The tax is based on the size of buildings on a parcel—not the size or value of the land.
For example:
- A 1,500-square-foot home: about $75 per year
- A 2,000-square-foot home: about $100 per year
- A 2,500-square-foot home: about $125 per year
- A 3,000-square-foot home: about $150 per year
No more than 100,000 square feet on any single parcel is subject to the tax.
How much funding will Measure P generate?
Measure P is estimated to generate approximately $12.5 million each year for child care and early childhood education in Marin County. That funding is dedicated to the purposes of Measure P and cannot be redirected to Sacramento, Washington DC, or unrelated County expenses.
How long will Measure P last?
Measure P lasts for 15 years. At the end of that period, the tax expires. Continuing it beyond that point would require another action by Marin voters.
Will the money stay local?
Yes. Measure P creates a dedicated local source of funding, and the money raised by the measure must be used locally in Marin County for child care and early childhood education.
That means Marin is investing directly in our own children, families, early educators, child care providers, workforce, and community—and the funding cannot be taken away by Sacramento or Washington.
How will taxpayers know where the money goes?
Measure P includes multiple layers of fiscal accountability.
Revenue must be deposited into a dedicated account and can only be spent for purposes authorized by the measure. Administrative expenses are capped at 5%.
The measure also requires annual independent financial audits, public reporting and evaluation, a five-year program plan and budget, review by a community advisory council, and annual appropriation of expenditures by the publicly elected Marin County Board of Supervisors.
Who decides how Measure P funds are spent?
The Marin County Children and Families Commission will develop a public five-year program plan and budget, and administer the programs supported by Measure P.
An 11-member Child Care Community Advisory Council appointed by the Marin County Board of Supervisors will make recommendations on priorities, expenditures, and implementation. The Marin County Board of Supervisors must approve Measure P funding each year, and the fund is subject to annual independent financial audits.
This structure combines early childhood expertise, community input, public transparency, and oversight by elected officials; offering multiple opportunities for public input and oversight.
Why doesn’t Measure P specify an exact percentage for every program?
Child care needs can change over time. A rigid formula written today could prevent the community from responding to changing costs, workforce shortages, demand for scholarships, or the need for additional child care spaces years from now.
Instead, Measure P establishes clear purposes for the funding and requires a five-year public plan, annual budgets, community oversight, financial audits, and regular evaluation.
That provides flexibility while ensuring the money can only be spent on the child care and early education purposes voters approved.
Why does Measure P invest in early educator pay?
Quality child care depends on qualified, experienced educators.
Yet the people entrusted with caring for and educating Marin’s youngest children often struggle to afford to live in the community where they work. When experienced educators leave the profession, classrooms lose trusted teachers, providers have difficulty keeping spaces open, and families have fewer options.
Measure P will help attract and retain high-quality early educators so Marin families can count on stable, reliable care.
How does Measure P help people who don’t have young children?
Child care affects our entire community.
When parents cannot find care, employers lose workers. Nurses, first responders, teachers, caregivers, grocery workers, small-business employees, and other essential workers may have to reduce their hours or leave jobs altogether.
And when children have access to high-quality early learning, they arrive at school better prepared to succeed.
A stronger child care system supports children, families, schools, local employers, and Marin’s economy.
Does Measure P include exemptions for seniors or lower-income property owners?
No. Measure P does not include separate senior or income-based property-tax exemptions.
The tax is instead based on building square footage rather than property value, beginning at 5 cents per square foot annually, with no more than 100,000 square feet per parcel subject to the tax.
Why is Measure P decided by a simple majority?
Measure P was placed on the ballot through a voter-led initiative after supporters gathered the legally required number of voter signatures. Marin County Counsel has determined that, under California law, voter initiatives of this kind are adopted when approved by a majority of votes cast.
Why should I vote YES on Measure P?
Because a child’s first five years can shape a lifetime.
Measure P is a modest, practical, local investment in healthier children, stronger families, a stable early education workforce, and a Marin economy that works for parents and employers alike.
It will make quality early learning more affordable, help create and preserve child care spaces, attract and retain qualified educators, and establish a stable source of locally controlled funding that cannot be taken away by the state or federal government.
For our kids. For our families. For Marin’s future. Vote YES on Measure P.
