Berkeley voters are being asked a question no other Bay Area city faces on Nov. 3: should local property owners pay to start a public bank? Measure Z, placed on the ballot by a citizen petition, would create a six-year parcel tax to build up the money a regional bank would need before regulators would let it open.

What a yes vote does

Starting Jan. 1, 2027, the tax would charge 6 cents per square foot of residential buildings and 9 cents per square foot of non-residential buildings, according to the city attorney's impartial analysis. The city estimates it would raise about $9.2 million in the first year and $58.3 million over six years. Berkeleyside reports the rate would rise each year with Bay Area cost of living or California per capita income, whichever grows faster, and that very-low-income owners could apply each year for an exemption. It needs a simple majority to pass.

The money would go into a special fund to capitalize a public bank whose service area includes Berkeley. The bank would lend for affordable housing (defined as below 120% of area median income), green energy and infrastructure, and small businesses. Spending would be subject to City Council review and regular audits, per the ballot question.

What happens next if it passes

Once about $40 million is raised, Friends of Public Bank East Bay would apply for FDIC insurance and a state charter from the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, Berkeleyside reported. State law caps California at two new public banks a year and 10 total. If no bank is authorized by June 30, 2033, the fund could instead be used for loans for the same purposes.

Who is for and against

Supporters, organized as the Coalition to Keep Berkeley Money Local, say a public bank would keep local deposits out of Wall Street and fund projects big banks see as too risky. The committee had raised more than $155,000 by Aug. 17. A city-commissioned April poll found 58% of likely voters inclined to support the tax.

Opponents, including Within Our Means Berkeley, say they are not against public banking but object to Berkeley footing the bill alone. Oakland and Alameda County are no longer part of the funding plan, and the only other pledge so far is $750,000 from Richmond, conditioned on state approval and county money. "Imagine [if] only Berkeley paid for BART," organizer Paul Mathew told Berkeleyside. Critics also warn the money could sit locked up until 2033 if regulators balk.

Measure Z is one of several Berkeley tax questions this fall, alongside a half-cent sales tax, the $300 million Measure U infrastructure bond, an arts parcel tax and a soda tax increase. Alameda County's registration deadline is Oct. 19.