Program Description
The Marin Coalition’s October speaker, Coalition of Sensible Taxpayer’s founder and President Mimi Willard, provides a very timely preview of a tidal wave of tax-related ballot measures on the November ballot. Pivotally important statewide Proposition 5 seeks to lower the voter approval required to pass most local and regional bond measures to 55% from 2/3 effective retroactively to election day. Marin voters also face multiple state and local bond proposals – plus other local tax measures and initiatives. The number and complexity of these proposals will challenge the ability of citizens to understand how these may affect them personally and the future of our communities. In this event Mimi explains each of these measures and how CST’s Sensible Tax Criteria and Bond Guidelines helps identify which taxes to support in the face of a “Tax Tsunami” facing our residents.
Speaker Bio
Mimi Willard is Director and Board President and CST’s founder. A Chartered Financial Analyst, Mimi contributes financial and budgetary expertise accumulated over twenty years as a nationally top-ranked financial analyst at major investment banks including Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers. Mimi graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Reed College with a B.A. in biology. She pursued graduate studies in cellular physiology as a Churchill Scholar at the University of Cambridge (England), and as a graduate fellow at the Rockefeller University and Woods Hole Biological Laboratory. Ms. Willard later received from Yale University a MPhil in American History focusing on the political press in the Early American Republic and history of epidemics. She served Reed College as a trustee and member of budget, finance, and investment committees. Mimi is committed to working collaboratively with taxpayers and jurisdictions to find approaches that are fiscally sound, fair, and affordable to Marin’s residents.