Albany voters will decide three new or higher city taxes on the Nov. 3 ballot: Measure R, which would base the business license tax on gross receipts instead of head count; Measure S, which would swap the flat 1.5% property transfer tax for five tiers from 1% to 3%; and Measure T, a new parcel tax for street trees and streetlights. Together the city estimates they would raise about $2.4 million a year. R and S need a simple majority. T needs two-thirds.

Measure R: business license tax on gross receipts

Most Albany businesses now pay $382 a year for an owner or sole employee plus $78 for each additional full-time employee. Under Measure R, general retailers would pay up to $50 on receipts of $50,000 or less, up to $200 on receipts up to $200,000, and 0.1% of receipts above $200,000. Most other businesses, including contractors, commercial landlords and service firms, would pay the same base amounts plus 0.5% above $200,000. Residential landlords would keep paying up to $120 per rental unit.

The city collected $1,256,982 in business license tax in fiscal 2025-26, and Measure R is projected to add about $600,000 a year starting Jan. 1, 2027. Officials say more than 70% of retail and service businesses would pay less. Realtor Francesco Papalia, who signed the argument against it, wrote that low-margin businesses such as grocery stores would pay "a tax on money that they do not make." The League of Women Voters of Berkeley, Albany and Emeryville supports it.

Measure S: a five-tier property transfer tax

Albany now charges $15 per $1,000, or 1.5%, on every property sale. Measure S would set the rate by price tier, recalculated each year from county sales data: 1% below the 25th percentile, 1.5% up to the median, 2% up to the 75th percentile, 2.5% up to the 90th, and 3% at the top. Using 2024-25 data, the lowest tier was under $950,000 and the top tier began at $2.3 million. The rate applies to the full sale price.

  • An $800,000 condo sale would owe $8,000, down from $12,000.
  • A $1.5 million sale would owe $30,000, up $7,500.
  • A $2.5 million sale would owe $75,000, double today's $37,500.

Measure S is a general tax expected to raise about $1 million more a year from Jan. 1, 2027. Council members argue the tiers are fairer to buyers of condos and smaller homes. Papalia's argument against calls it "a blank check" for City Hall that raises the cost of buying and selling homes.

Measure T: street trees and streetlights

Measure T would create a special parcel tax of $0.0354 per lot square foot from July 1, 2027, with yearly inflation increases capped at 3% and exemptions for qualifying low-income residents. On a 5,000-square-foot lot that works out to about $177 a year. The estimated $775,000 a year could be spent only on planting and caring for street trees, removing hazardous ones and maintaining streetlights.

What your vote means

  • Yes on R: business tax based on gross receipts. No: the employee-count system stays.
  • Yes on S: tiered transfer tax of 1% to 3%. No: the flat 1.5% stays.
  • Yes on T: new tree and streetlight parcel tax. No: no new tax.

The City Council unanimously endorsed all six Albany measures. The others are Measure O on single-family zoning, Measure P for street paving and Measure Q, an update to the fire and emergency medical parcel tax tied, like P, to Golden Gate Fields possibly becoming tax-exempt. Nearby, Piedmont voters weigh a transfer tax increase in Measure GG. See every local measure in our Election 2026 guide.