Voters in Albany are being asked to mull over six local measures on the Nov. 3 ballot — five of them are tax measures, at least two of which are in direct response to the closure of the Golden Gate Fields horse track and the revenue it generated for the city.
The waterfront track sits on 161 acres, straddles the Albany/Berkeley border, and was a major contributor to Albany’s tax base before it ceased operations in 2024.
After the closure, a national nonprofit called the Trust for Public Land, along with the East Bay Regional Park District and the California Natural Resources Agency, announced plans to acquire the property and convert it to a public park.
Since EBRPD is a public entity and therefore doesn’t pay taxes, the plan spurred the Albany City Council to look for ways to make up the lost revenue.
“Of the measures, the majority are intended to help sustain city core services, and are progressive in that they include discounted rates for lower income residents that pay property taxes,” according to a statement from city spokesperson Brennen Brown. “In addition, some of the measures are thoughtfully proposed to go into effect only upon the sale of the Golden Gate Fields property should that transfer to a tax-exempt agency and therefore remove that revenue from current property taxes received.”
According to information about the racetrack posted on the city’s website, Golden Gate Fields generated between $150,000 to $300,000 a year for the city via sales, business license and utility users’ taxes, among other things. In fiscal year 2023-24, the track’s non-property tax contribution was estimated at about $400,000, or around 1.3% of the city’s total revenue.
Measures P and Q
Now, voters are being asked to approve Measures P and Q, which are parcel taxes designed to help make up for lost property tax revenue and would only take effect “if a parcel over 500,000 square feet in size becomes exempt from this tax,” which is in reference to the Golden Gate Fields property.
In 2006, the city’s voters approved a special $167.65 parcel tax for street paving and storm drainage improvements. Now that the track is gone, Albany stands to lose $287,000 annually, which is nearly 22% of the total from that source, according to the city website.
Measure P on the November ballot would authorize the City Council to “levy this tax at the maximum rate of $0.0638 per lot square foot for all parcels” in order to raise $1.4 million a year, according to an analysis by City Attorney Malathy Subramanian.
In 2022, voters approved a separate $0.0807 per lot square foot parcel tax for emergency medical, advanced life support and fire protection services. With the track gone, Albany expects to lose $400,000 in funding annually for EMS services, representing nearly 20% of the total from that tax.
If Measure Q passes and the track closes, it would raise $2.5 million a year by changing the tax to $0.254 per building square foot for developed properties and $0.110 per lot square foot for undeveloped parcels for emergency services.
Both measures include exemptions and reductions for very low- and low-income residents and allow increases based on the Consumer Price Index.
“This doubling of our shoreline park is what we have wanted for decades,” according to the ballot argument in favor of Measure P. “But public ownership also means a fifth of the local tax funding to repair road pavement and prevent flooding would be lost. If and only if this occurs, Measure P would restructure the tax to maintain this funding.”
Measures P and Q both require a two-thirds vote to pass and would together result in the average tax per residence increasing by $12 a month, according to supporters, who include Mayor Peggy McQuaid and all four of the other city councilmembers.
No ballot arguments against measures P and Q were submitted to the City Clerk’s Office.
Measure R
Voters are also being asked to decide the fate of Measure R, a business license tax that requires a simple majority vote to pass. It would set the amount owed to be based on either flat rates or gross receipts, instead of the number of employees.
Businesses with smaller gross incomes would be taxed at a flat rate that would vary depending on the type of business, and those with larger gross incomes would be taxed based on how much money they earn before expenses.
If it passes, Measure R would generate an additional $600,000 per year for the city’s general fund.
Supporters, including the mayor and the City Council, say the measure would lower the business tax for “more than seven out of ten retail and services businesses” while companies that make more money would “contribute proportionately, creating a fairer relationship between tax responsibility and business activity.”
An argument against Measure R was submitted by realtor Francesco Papalia, a former City Council candidate and former member of the city’s now-defunct Financial Advisory Committee.
“A gross receipts tax is an income tax of the worst kind. It taxes, not the money that you take home, but all of the incoming revenue to your business without the ability to make deductions for rent, inventory, payroll, healthcare benefits and overhead, including utilities,” according to Papalia. “It doesn’t differentiate between businesses that have a high margin of profit and a low margin of profit.”
Measure S
Papalia also submitted an argument against Measure S, that would, if approved by a simple majority of voters, change the real estate transfer tax from an across-the-board 1.5% rate to a five-tiered rate structure based on a property’s purchase price.
It is estimated that Measure S would generate an additional $1 million a year for the city’s general fund.
“Measure S increases the cost of buying and selling property, making Albany even less affordable,” according to Papalia, who says it will increase the transfer tax on a median-priced single-family home by 33%.
He said it will also put upward pressure on rents in the city because it impacts multifamily and mixed-use buildings the most.
“Because these properties have higher sales prices, they face dramatically larger tax bills,” he says in the ballot argument against Measure S. “Those added costs increase the cost of providing housing and commercial space, creating pressure for higher rents on both residential and small-business tenants.”
Papalia said city leaders have proposed the new taxes because they’ve “capitulated to this lost revenue and are just saying ‘We’re going to make the businesses and real estate sales and everybody else just pay more,’ instead of doing what you’re supposed to do, which is to bring in new sources of revenue.”
Supporters, again including the mayor and City Council, argue that the tax is necessary to continue funding the city’s basic services and that such services actually contribute to property values.
Measure S also changes the transfer tax to be more equitable, they argue.
“Measure S cuts the rate for properties in the lowest quarter by value while raising it for properties that sell for more than the median,” according to the ballot argument in favor. “It raises the rate the most for properties in the upper tenth.”
Measure T
The last local parcel tax on the Nov. 3 ballot in Albany is Measure T, which requires a two-thirds vote to pass.
It would create a new $0.0354 per lot-square-foot parcel tax to raise $775,000 a year for “street trees and streetlighting improvements.”
The tax would only apply to the first 500,000 lot-square-feet of a parcel and it would provide exemptions and reductions for very-low and low-income residents. The average cost per house would be $12 a month and $3 a month for condos.
“A yes vote means safer streets and sidewalks through better lighting and more resilient, sustainable and beautiful Albany through healthier and more trees,” according to the ballot argument submitted by the mayor and City Council.
No ballot arguments against Measure T were submitted to the City Clerk’s Office.
Measure O
The only measure on the Nov. 3 ballot in Albany that’s not a tax is Measure O, which requires a majority vote to pass and would amend zoning rules to allow the City Council to make changes in single-family residential areas without a majority neighborhood voter approval.
“Measure O does not change zoning,” according to the ballot argument in favor from the mayor and City Council. “It does not approve any specific project, increase density or alter development standards immediately. Instead, it allows the City Council to consider future updates through the same processes that apply across Albany.”
No ballot arguments against Measure O were submitted to the City Clerk’s Office.
