Here's How You'll Pay the New Transit Taxes: RTM Starts April 1, 2027, and Most SF Homes Owe $129 at First

Bay Area voters approved new transit taxes last week. Here is how and when residents will start paying them, according to a KQED guide that goes beyond earlier coverage of what the measures mean for BART and Muni budgets.

The Regional Transit Measure adds a 1% sales tax in San Francisco and a 0.5% sales tax in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, set to last 14 years. It is scheduled to go into effect on April 1, 2027, KQED reported. Before the election, Alameda had the highest countywide sales tax of the five, at 10.25%, and Contra Costa the lowest, at 8.75%. San Mateo and Santa Clara were at 9.375% and 9.75%. San Francisco's sales tax, previously 8.625%, will rise to 9.625%. First, the Public Transit Revenue Measure District, a committee made up of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission board, must certify the election results and adopt an ordinance imposing the tax, an action slated for early December, according to Rebecca Long, MTC's director of legislation and public affairs.

The new sales tax will apply to items already covered by California sales tax, including hot food, clothes and furniture, and will be added to the total sales tax on a receipt. A $50 purchase in San Francisco that now generates $4.31 in sales tax will be taxed an additional 50 cents, KQED reported. The five-county tax is estimated to generate around $1 billion annually, and Long expects the first allocations to reach agencies by July 1, 2027, for transit operations such as operator salaries and fleet maintenance. One exception: under SB 63, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority may use funds generated in Santa Clara County more broadly for "public transit expenses." VTA officials have said the board has committed not to use the revenue to fund its $12.7 billion BART Silicon Valley extension.

San Francisco's Proposition H is a 15-year parcel tax. Most single-family residential property owners will be charged $129 in the first year, with the amount rising each year with inflation. Single-family parcels larger than 3,000 square feet face additional fees, and the tax also sets base rates for multifamily, non-residential, mixed-use and unimproved parcels, KQED reported. Seniors, owners of single-room occupancy units and properties that already qualify for a property-tax exemption may qualify for a discount or be entirely exempt, but they need to apply. The deadline to apply is June 1, 2027, for the upcoming tax year, and a portal to apply is scheduled to go live Dec. 1, 2026. Landlords are allowed to pass 50% of the tax, up to $65 per unit per year, onto renters of rent-controlled units. Beginning in July 2027, Muni faces a budget deficit of about $350 million. RTM is projected to generate around $170 million a year for Muni, KQED reported.