Marin Independent Journal, October 23, 2006

Staff Report

A national group plans a protest of the SMART train tax Tuesday morning as part of a tour targeting programs it regards as wasteful spending.

The national free-market group Americans for Prosperity, in collaboration with the California-based Reason Foundation and Pacific Research Institute, will bring its seven-city Taxpayer Trust Tour to Larkspur for a news conference at 9:30 a.m. The event is to take place behind Marin Airporter between Sir Francis Drake Boulevard and Highway 101.

While in Larkspur, Americans for Prosperity leaders will highlight what they say is wasteful state spending and will specifically address the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit project.

Voters in Marin and Sonoma will decide Nov. 7 on Measure R, a quarter-cent sales tax to fund the train. The tax would generate about $660 million over 20 years, roughly $470 million from Sonoma County residents and $190 from Marin residents.