City Council’s 6.4% Rate Hike and New Parcel Taxes Drive Big Bills

Berkeley homeowners are opening their new property assessment — and many are surprised to see historically high increases.

One Nextdoor thread details 10% to 25%. increases and resulting questions about what’s behind these big jumps. Why are some people’s increases so much higher than others? Over the next few weeks, WOM Berkeley will break down the reasons for these differences. For now, here’s what we know.

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What’s Causing the Increase?

The main reason is parcel taxes — charges based on the size (square footage) of your home.

Here’s what’s new:

• New taxes: Measure FF (Street Repair) and Measure X (Library), and an increase in Parks rate (Measure Y).

• City Council increase: They voted to raise many existing parcel taxes by 6.4%.

• School funding: Berkeley Schools also raised their rate.

Together, these changes created one of the biggest overall tax increases in years. The graphic below illustrates the unprecedented nature of the 2025 increase.

This graph illustrates how parcel taxes and assessments cost are the driver of this year's increase.

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Could the Increase Have Been Smaller?

Yes.

When drafting parcel tax measures, Council gives itself the discretion to increase the rate every year based on economic indicators. We've been in touch with the Finance Department and they have explained the 6.4% is based on choosing to use personal income growth (PIG) in Berkeley as opposed to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) — the standard inflation measure.

Using the CPI would have meant about a 2.5% increase, closer to what’s been done in past years. See for yourself, according to additional data provided by the Finance Department, 2025’s increase is among the highest on record. We have compiled historic data here.*

Still, it shouldn’t take this much effort to understand your tax bill. The City should create a public dashboard showing every tax assessment and annual rate change — so residents can see exactly where their money goes.

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Why Did Council Approve a 6.4% Increase?

That’s unclear.

The decision was made without public input, in June on the Consent Calendar — a procedure meant for routine, non-controversial items like meeting minutes or small contract renewals.

But this City Council often uses the Consent Calendar to pass major, multi-million-dollar changes with no debate. That’s a troubling trend that should be stopped.

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Did Council Recognize the Magnitude of the Increase?

It was not discussed.

When we asked, one City Council office said the increase was “ministerial,” meaning it was automatic — something voters had already approved.

That’s only partly true.

Voters approved one specific increase — Measure Y (Parks and Landscaping) — but all other parcel tax increases were up to the Council’s discretion. Each recently passed parcel tax lets Council decide whether or not to raise the rate every year.

This confusion suggests that Council may not fully understand its own tax policy. WOM Berkeley believes there should be a public hearing every year to review all tax increases and the financial implications for residents.

Our Recommendations:

• Create a dashboard that includes current and historic assessments for each measure (We have discussed the importance of information transparency).

• Review the cumulative impact of all assessment changes at public hearing of City Council.

• By extension, Council should vote on the package of changes as an “action item” with public input. 

• Stop using the  Consent Calendar to pass major, multi-million-dollar changes.

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* Note, WOM Berkeley obtained this information from the City of Berkeley.  We identified some incorrect figures in the original data which we have corrected. We believe this information is now accurate; however, we have been unable to verify some outlier figures. 

WOM Berkeley spends an inordinate amount of time trying to access and verify public information that is not readily available through the city’s website. Fundamentally, we believe the City of Berkeley should maintain a dashboard for all tax assessments with current and historical rates available to all in a manner comparable to what we are providing here.