Property Taxes

The annual tax bill from Alameda County includes taxes, fixed charges, and/or special assessments.  City taxes will appear on the right side of your tax bill. The City has seven voter-approved taxes that help fund city services for street lighting, landscaping, libraries, paramedics, fire protection, and emergency services.

There may be differences between county and city data because each utilizes different parameters and criteria for determining square footage. To view your taxable square footage according to the City’s database, please visit our Open Data Portal.

Taxes and special assessments for your property

To see a copy of your property tax bill, you can go directly to the Alameda County Treasurer-Tax Collector's Office Property Tax Information website. 

Taxes are payable in two equal installments:

• First installment is due November 1, and is delinquent if not paid by December 10
• Second installment is due February 1, and is delinquent if not paid by April 10

If you choose to pay the entire tax bill in a single payment, then it is due no later than December 10.

The property tax bills are sent by:
Alameda County Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office
1221 Oak Street, Room 131
Oakland, CA 94612
Phone: (510) 272-6800
Fax: (510) 272-3856

If you have not received your property tax bill by November, please contact the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office.

Low-income property owner tax discounts or refunds

Low-income refunds are available for certain taxes. Please visit our the Very Low Income Refund Program page for refund instructions and forms.

City of Berkeley property tax assessments & fees for tax year 2022-2023 

The following list describes the special taxes and assessments for the City of Berkeley and the Berkeley Unified School District.  

City Street Lighting

Funds the maintenance and/or servicing of existing and future public lighting facilities, including traffic signals and public lighting.

Calculations are based on building square footage and land use codes:

• Residential: 0.01080
• Commercial: 0.04320
• Industrial: 0.02160
• Institutional: 0.01080
• Non-profits are not exempt.

Maintenance of City Parks, Trees & Landscaping

Funds maintenance of parks, city trees, and City landscaping.

Calculations are based on building square footage and land use codes:

• Residential: 0.20390
• Non-residential: 0.20390
• Non-profits are exempt

Rate increase: 7.55%

City Refuse Collection/Zero Waste Service

Single-family, condominium, and 2-unit residences have their refuse (garbage) collection services billed annually on the property tax bills.  The amount billed depends on the size and number of receptacles and frequency of service.  

City Library Services

Supports the usual and current expenses of operating the City of Berkeley Library Services. 

Calculations are based on building square footage and land use codes:

• Residential: 0.25830  
• Non-residential: 0.39060
• Non-profits are exempt. 

Rate increase: 7.55%

Paramedic Supplemental Tax (Emergency Medical Services) 

Provides funding to the Berkeley Fire Department for emergency paramedic and ambulance services; it is in addition to the County Service Area (CSA) Paramedic Assessment, which funds Countywide ambulance, paramedic, and trauma center care services. 

Calculations are based on building square footage and land use codes:

• Residential: 0.04330 
• Non-residential: 0.04330 
• Non-profits are exempt.

Rate increase: 4.996% 

Emergency Services for the Severely Disabled 

Funds paratransit programs for eligible seniors and disabled persons. 

• Residential: 0.01932
• Non-residential: 0.01932
• Non-profits are exempt. 

Rate increase: 7.55% 

Fire Protection and Emergency Response and Preparedness Tax (Measure GG of 2008)

Measure GG was passed by Berkeley voters in November 2008.  The revenue from this tax is used to keep fire stations open, improve and expand paramedic services and medical service response, improve disaster preparedness in the community, and invest in a unified communication system that will allow Berkeley police and firefighters to better coordinate with other agencies.

• Residential: 0.05818 
• Non-residential: 0.08804 
• Non-profits are exempt. 

Rate increase: None 

Fire, Emergency Services and Wildfire Prevention Tax (Measure FF of 2020)

Measure FF was passed by Berkeley voters in November 2020.  The revenue from this tax is used to fund firefighter and emergency medical response, upgrades to the 9-1-1 dispatch system, hazard mitigation, and wildfire prevention and preparedness activities. 

• Residential: 0.11260
• Non-Residential: 0.11260
• Non-profits are exempt.

2018 Street Light Assessment

Generates funding to provide effective street lighting to enhance pedestrian, bicycle, and traffic safety as well as repair and replace street lights to maintain well-lit streets for safe, livable and vibrant neighborhoods.  

• Rates depend on property use / size 
• Non-profits are not exempt.

2018 Storm Water

Funds the continued operations and maintenance and necessary capital improvements to city storm drainage infrastructure, green infrastructure and clean water efforts above the original Clean Storm Water assessment. 

• Rates depend on property use / size 
• Non-profits are not exempt.

Clean Storm Water (California Constitution Article XIII, & 6) 

Fund the maintenance and improvement of the storm water drainage system. 

The assessment is based on a formula that includes the lot square footage (not building square footage), a run-off factor based on the type of building on the lot, and a standard runoff rate (based on an 'average' lot size).

• Standard Runoff Unit = 2,196 
• SF Rate per Runoff Unit = $50.00 
• Runoff Factors are: 
  • Single Residential: 0.4 
  • Duplex: 0.4 
  • Other Residential: 0.6 
  • Commercial: 0.8 
  • Industrial: 0.8 
  • Institutional: 0.6 
  • Vacant Land: 0.2 

For example, a duplex on a 3,000 square foot lot would be assessed as follows:
(3,000 Sq Ft x $50.00 x .4) / 2,196 Sq Ft = $27.32

• Non-profits are not exempt. 

Descriptions of taxes, fees, and assessments imposed by other agencies are not included here.

Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) Taxes 

The following three school taxes are not administered by the City of Berkeley. Please direct questions regarding the details of these taxes to BUSD:

Berkeley Unified School District
2020 Bonar St, Ste 217 B
Berkeley, CA  94702
www.berkeleyschools.net
(510) 644-8717

These three taxes are based on building square footage and land use codes. The School District extends an exemption to non-profits for these taxes.

BUSD: Berkeley School Tax (Measure E1 of 2016)

Funds are used to reduce class sizes, increase teacher training, and provide school enrichment programs.

• Residential: 0.43360
• Non-residential: 0.43360

School Maintenance (Measure H of 2020) 

Funds are used to provide essential maintenance of buildings, classrooms, grounds, roofs, electrical, mechanical/plumbing systems, and address fire/safety hazards.

• Residential: 0.09670
• Non-residential: 0.09670
• Vacant Lot: $21.26 (flat rate)

Berkeley Educator Recruitment (Measure E of 2020) 

Funds are used to recruit and retain qualified teachers and prevent shortages of essential school staff.

• Residential: 0.13170
• Non-residential: 0.13170
• Vacant Lot: $26.56 (flat rate)

Errors or changes to square footage

If you believe that there is an error in square footage, please write to the Finance Department directly and include building plans, scaled drawings with dimensions, and their calculations to augment your assertion.  Please email this information to financemailbox@cityofberkeley.info.

While we encourage any community members who have relevant information to submit it to the proptaxtips@cityofberkeley.info, we will not respond individually to the submitted tips. Persons other than the property owner who have potentially corrective information may also submit it.

All tips will be evaluated, we may contact individual parties if additional information is needed in our analysis, but otherwise, any updated publicly available data will be accessible via our Open Data Portal, once the changes have been validated and updates finalized.

Business Improvement Districts (BIDs)

Certain commercial districts in the City of Berkeley have special assessments on the property tax bills to fund improvements and beautification projects in those areas. Currently, there are three Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) that may appear on a tax bill:

• Telegraph BID (3.0% increase in FY 2023)
• North Shattuck BID (no increase in FY 2023)
• Downtown BID  (2.5% increase in FY 2023) 

The amounts of these assessments are based on the particular BID and formulas that take into account the size and configuration of the commercial structure.

Liens

Some property tax bills have liens included with the special taxes and assessments. Liens are placed on tax bills when property owners fail to pay for billable services provided by the City of Berkeley or when a citation is issued against a property and remains unpaid. Typical liens include the following:

• Residential Housing Inspection fees
• Business License Tax on rental property
• Environmental Health fees
• Sidewalk Repairs
• Refuse Services
• Residential Housing Safety Program (annual) fees
• Fire Inspection fees 
• Toxics/Hazardous Material permit fees
• Administrative Citations

Underground Lighting/Utility Assessment District 

Thousand Oaks Heights Underground District is a 30-year assessment and first appeared on the property taxes in FY 2006.  The final assessment will appear on the FY 2035 property tax bill.  

This assessment pays for converting street lighting service from overhead wires to underground wiring of streetlights.

Property Tax-Rate Breakdown (Ad Valorem - according to value) 

Your property tax bill includes other property-based taxes, which are found on the left side of your statement. In addition to the Countywide tax of 1%, your property tax statement includes additional items reflecting voter-approved debt service for payment of bonds issued by jurisdictions within your tax rate area to provide designated programs and services. These Ad Valorem taxes are based on the assessed value of the property, less any exemptions.

• Countywide tax: 1.00%
• City of Berkeley Voter Approved Debt Service: 0.0623%
  
  The breakdown of the General Obligation Bonds is as follows:

  Measure	Percentage
  Measure T1 (Infrastructure and Facilities Improvement)	0.0160%
  Measure O (Affordable Funding Projects)	0.0200%
  Measure M (Street and Watershed Improvements)	0.0075%
  Measure FF (Neighborhood Branch Library)	0.0058%
  Measure G, S, & I (Consolidated) Measure G – Fire Seismic Measure S – Redistricting Council District Boundaries Measure I – Animal Shelter	0.0130%
  Total	0.0623%