Marina's City Hall was built in 1975 out of portable trailers. Its police and fire station went up in 1993 and, by the city's own account, does not meet current seismic standards. Fire response times in the city average about ten minutes against a national standard the city variously quotes as four or five. In 2024 Marina asked voters for a bond to replace those buildings and got 60 percent of the vote, short of the two-thirds a bond requires.
So this November the city is asking a different way. Measure Q, on the November 3, 2026 ballot, is a 7 percent Utility Users Tax. It does not touch property tax bills at all. It shows up instead as a line on five other bills, and for a buyer comparing Marina against Seaside, the interesting part is what it does to a comparison that has favored Marina for years.
What the Tax Is
The city council voted unanimously in June to advance the measure and placed it on the ballot July 7. Its formal name is "the City of Marina 911 Emergency, Public Safety, and Community Services Measure." The mechanics, from the city's Measure Q page and FAQ, are these:
- A 7 percent tax on water, gas, electricity, telecommunications and video services, for both residential and commercial utility users inside the city.
- Internet access is explicitly exempt.
- A reduced rate of 3.5 percent for households enrolled in PG&E's CARE program and for seniors 65 and older who head a household at or below 80 percent of the Monterey County area median income. The city is responsible for verifying eligibility.
- No sunset. The tax continues until ended by voters.
- Revenue goes to the General Fund, must stay local, and is subject to independent financial audits and public spending reports.
The city estimates the tax raises roughly $3.83 million a year. On a $50 utility bill, the math is $3.50. The Marina Coast Water District, which held its own informational meeting on September 21, has said that if Q passes, the 7 percent will appear as a separate line item on water and wastewater bills with the revenue sent to the city.
What It Costs a Household
The city has published three slightly different estimates of the household cost, which is worth noting because a reader will encounter all of them. The Measure Q page uses $28.70 a month, or $344.40 a year, for a typical household. The August 17 city release said $327.50 a year for the average household. The FAQ gives a range of $21 to $33 a month. Take the range as the honest answer: a Marina household with ordinary utility usage should expect somewhere between $250 and $400 a year, with higher-usage homes, larger lots with irrigation, and homes with multiple streaming and phone services at the top of that band.
What the money is for is more specific than the general-fund language suggests. The city's stated project list is a new Fire Station No. 1, a new police headquarters, and a new City Hall and council chambers, with a total estimated cost of $69.2 million as of June. The city has $19.3 million secured through grants and impact fees, leaving a gap the city has quoted at $49.9 million in June and "nearly $58 million" in August. Sites under consideration earlier this year included Vince DiMaggio Park and a vacant Monterey-Salinas Transit parcel on Reservation Road, which the council voted 3-2 in March to appraise.
Because the measure funds the General Fund, the money can legally go to "public safety, emergency response, repairs and upgrades to police, fire and City facilities, street and pothole repairs and any other general City services," in the FAQ's words. That flexibility is why it is on the ballot as a utility tax rather than a bond, and it is also the point the measure's critics, including two of the three mayoral candidates, have pressed on.
"As our community considers Measure Q, our priority is total transparency."
That is Mayor Bruce Delgado in the city's August 26 release. Delgado has been mayor since 2008 and is retiring this year, so the council that spends the money will be a different one. Of the three candidates to replace him, Councilmember Liesbeth Visscher supports Q and has Delgado's endorsement, Mike Moeller has said he prefers a lower tax focused only on public safety facilities, and Ana Luz Acevedo-Cabrera has said "the 7-percent tax is too high for many residents," according to Monterey County Now's September 3 coverage of the race.
The Polling and the Politics
The city commissioned FM3 Research to survey 312 likely voters before committing. Support was 49 percent before respondents were given information about the measure and 59 percent after. Adam Sonenshein of FM3 told the council, as reported by Erik Chalhoub in Monterey County Now, "We feel pretty good about the potential for this measure given this outcome. Assuming the city can do the outreach and information sharing that we simulated in this survey."
That is the whole campaign in one sentence. The measure passes if the city can get the facility story in front of enough voters. It has scheduled a virtual meeting on September 16, an in-person meeting on Wednesday, September 30 at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at 211 Hillcrest Avenue, and facility tours on September 17 and October 15 that start at City Hall so voters can see the trailers themselves.
The Seaside Comparison Nobody Mentions on the Flyer
Here is the part that matters for anyone choosing between the two cities north of Monterey. Seaside already charges a 6 percent Utility Users Tax on gas, electricity, water, telephone and cable television, with a certificate-based exemption for residents 65 and older. Measure Q would be a new tax for Marina, not an increase to an existing one.
For years the shorthand has been that Marina is the more affordable of the two on a monthly basis, partly because of that. If Q passes, the gap on the utility line closes. A Marina household paying roughly $30 a month in UUT is paying about what a comparable Seaside household pays now, and slightly more, since 7 percent is a point higher than 6 percent and Marina's list includes video services where Seaside's names cable television. The difference is small in dollars. The point is that the comparison is no longer lopsided.
Property taxes and Mello-Roos are a separate conversation and they are where the larger Marina-versus-Seaside differences actually live, particularly at The Dunes, where improvements are funded through a Community Facilities District. Measure Q does not change any of that. It changes the utility bill only.
The July Price Number, Since It Will Come Up
Anyone researching Marina this month will run into Redfin's July 2026 figure: a median sale price of $1,170,414, up 33.8 percent year over year, on 41 sales. That number is real and it is also nearly useless as a measure of what an existing Marina home is worth. Zillow's Home Value Index for the same city, updated August 31, 2026, sits at $858,881 and is down 0.3 percent over the past year.
Those two figures are not in conflict. Redfin is reporting what sold, and in a month when newer and larger homes make up more of what closes, the median moves with them. Zillow is modeling what a typical existing home is worth. A 34 percent one-month jump on 41 transactions is mix, not appreciation. Buyers comparing a resale on the older grid near Reservation Road against that headline should use the pocket comps, not the citywide median.
What This Means If You Are Comparing Marina and Seaside
- Budget the utility tax at $250 to $400 a year if Q passes, and confirm which services your household actually uses. Internet-only households will see less than the headline estimate.
- Ask whether the property qualifies for the reduced rate. The 3.5 percent tier depends on CARE enrollment or a senior head of household under the income threshold, and the city will verify.
- Treat the Seaside comparison as roughly even on utilities and move the analysis to property tax, CFD assessments and HOA dues, which vary far more between the two cities than a 1 percent tax rate does.
- Separate the facility question from the market question. New police and fire buildings and a ten-minute response time falling toward five are a long-horizon quality-of-life change. The July median is a one-month artifact.
A Few Questions Worth Asking Directly
Is Measure Q a property tax or a parcel tax? Neither. It is a 7 percent tax on water, gas, electric, telecommunications and video services, collected as a line item on those bills. Internet access is exempt. Property tax bills do not change.
Does it apply to renters and to businesses? Yes to both. The city FAQ says the tax "would generally apply to utility users within the City, both residential and commercial." A tenant who pays the utility bill pays the tax.
Does the tax expire? No. It continues until ended by voters, and the city has not published an effective date for collection if the measure passes.
What is Seaside's rate, for comparison? Seaside charges 6 percent on gas, electric, water, telephone and cable television, with an exemption available to residents 65 and older through the Finance Department at 440 Harcourt Avenue.
Where can I see the details before I vote? The city's Measure Q page and FAQ at cityofmarina.org, the September 30 in-person meeting at 211 Hillcrest Avenue, and the October 15 facility tour.
Carmel Luxury Group tracks the ballot measures on the north side of the bay the same way we track a listing, because a line on the water bill is part of what a house costs to own. If you are weighing Marina against Seaside, or a resale against new construction at The Dunes, start a confidential consultation and we will build the monthly picture for the specific property.
