Variable Rate Parcel Tax Analysis in San Francisco

Property Business Improvement Districts (PBIDs)

PBIDs in SF already levy an assessment on property owners. These are based on variable rate formulas involving property areas.

Assessor Data

It is the responsibility of each property owner to ensure that the information provided to the Castro/Upper Market CBD, from the Assessor’s office is correct.
source

Parcel Counts

PBID Parcel Count
East Cut 3,242
SOMA West 2,669
Yerba Buena 2,110
Central Market 800
Tenderloin 643
Union Square 611
Castro 564
Discover Polk 534
Downtown SF 464
Ocean Avenue 339
Lower Polk 307
Noe Valley 219
Fishermans Wharf 168
Excelsior 167
Japantown 67
TOTAL 12,904

Use Code Within PBIDs

Use Code Description Parcel Count % of Total
SRES Single Family Residential 8,481 65.72%
MRES Multi-Family Residential 1,137 8.81%
COMR Commercial Retail 936 7.25%
COMO Commercial Office 750 5.81%
IND Industrial 614 4.76%
COMM Commercial Misc 345 2.67%
COMH Commercial Hotel 329 2.55%
MISC Miscellaneous/Mixed-Use 289 2.24%

Assessor Data

Exclusions

Data Change Total
Assessor Historical Secured Property Tax Rolls 221,448
Exclude inactive (via Parcels – Active and Retired) with pre-2023 latest closed roll year -5,452 215,996
Exclude exemption_code 3 (Welfare) -1,278 214,718
Exclude exemption_code 6 (Veterans) -291 214,427
Exclude exemption_code 8 (Hospital) -203 214,224
Exclude exemption_code 7 (Religious) -121 214,103
Exclude exemption_code 2 (College) -16 214,087
Exclude exemption_code 18 (Lessor) -10 214,077
Exclude exemption_code 14 (Historic) -7 214,070
Exclude exemption_code 25 (Cemetery) -2 214,068
Exclude property_class_code UWL (Under Water Lots) -575 213,493
Exclude use_code GOVT -358 213,135
Exclude parcels found in City Facilities with status_code N -521 212,614
Exclude property_class TS (Timeshares) and TSF (Timeshare Fractional) with zero property_area -5,740 206,875

Property Area Data Quality

Completeness

Type Parcel Count
Parcels under consideration 206,875
No property area in any closed roll year 8,939
Property area in previous year but zero in latest roll 203
Parcels with property area in latest roll 197,733

Composition

Use Code Description Parcel Count Percentage
SRES Single Family Residential 154,296 74.58%
MRES Multi-Family Residential 35,972 17.39%
MISC Miscellaneous/Mixed-Use 4,621 2.23%
COMR Commercial Retail 4,114 1.99%
COMM Commercial Misc 3,212 1.55%
IND Industrial 2,307 1.12%
COMO Commercial Office 1,649 0.80%
COMH Commercial Hotel 704 0.34%

Flat Rate Structures

We'll consider 197,733 parcels with property area for the flat rate structures. This will give a better comparison to variable rate structures.

Existing

The SFUSD 2010 parcel tax is not included in this table. It has a per-parcel flat rate for single-family residences and a per-unit flat rate for multi-family residences. The nine-county Bay Restoration parcel tax is also excluded.

Source Rate FY 2022-23 Modeled Revenue*
SFUSD 2008 QTEA* $310 $46.3M $61.3M
SFUSD 2020 FWEA* $325 $48.6M $64.3M
City College 2012 $99 $20.0M $19.6M

* Exempts senior (65+ y/o) owner-occupied parcels. Modeled revenue does not account for this exemption.
Source: SF Board of Education Adopts Plan and Budget for 2022-23 School Year
Source: 2022/23 Annual Levy Report for Proposition B Special Parcel Tax

Mayor Poll

Lurie polled three rates which would last for ten years.

Rate Polled Revenue Modeled Revenue
$200 $43M $39.6M
$500 $106M $98.9M
$941 $200M $186.1M

Senior Homeowner Exemption

The ACS 1-year estimates 32.6% of owner-occupied tenure is from 65+.

Age Group Estimate Percentage
15–64 93,169 67.4%
65 and over 45,007 32.6%
Owner-occupied total 138,176 100.0%

U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce. "Tenure by Age of Householder." American Community Survey, ACS 1-Year Estimates Detailed Tables, Table B25007, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT1Y2023.B25007?q=Owner/Renter+(Householder)+Characteristics&g=050XX00US06075. Accessed on 14 Jun 2025.

Variable Rate Structures

Property Area Distribution

Percentile Property Area (sqft) Parcels
p5 675 9,886
p10 818 19,773
p25 1,101 49,433
p50 1,511 98,866
p75 2,341 148,299
p90 3,905 177,959
p95 5,902 187,846
p99 22,572 195,755
Max 3,015,837 197,733

Property Area Distribution by Use Code

Overall Distribution

Overall Distribution

Single-Family Residential (SRES)

Single-Family Residential (SRES)

Multi-Family Residential (MRES)

Multi-Family Residential (MRES)

Commercial Office (COMO)

Commercial Office (COMO)

Commercial Retail (COMR)

Commercial Retail (COMR)

Industrial (IND)

Industrial (IND)

Commercial Hotel (COMH)

Commercial Hotel (COMH)

Commercial Misc (COMM)

Commercial Misc (COMM)

Miscellaneous (MISC)

Miscellaneous (MISC)
Use Code p10 (sqft) p50 (sqft) p90 (sqft) Max (sqft)
All Parcels (ALL) 818 1,511 3,905 3,015,837
Single-Family Residential (SRES) 787 1,337 2,357 3,015,837
Multi-Family Residential (MRES) 1,902 3,300 8,086 674,317
Commercial Retail (COMR) 825 3,250 14,946 922,758
Commercial Mixed (COMM) 322 1,117 12,599 469,726
Industrial (IND) 2,000 6,246 30,000 448,000
Commercial Office (COMO) 973 10,594 199,950 1,534,312
Commercial Hotel (COMH) 4,992 13,888 69,496 1,424,230
Miscellaneous (MISC) 434 1,291 8,596 649,376

Revenue by Rate x Cap Matrix

Raising the cap has diminishing yields on total revenue.

Rate/Cap $10K $25K $50K $75K $100K
$0.10 $52.4M $57.0M $59.7M $60.6M $61.0M
$0.15 $75.7M $82.3M $87.4M $89.5M $90.6M
$0.20 $98.4M $106.9M $114.0M $117.4M $119.3M
$0.25 $120.5M $131.0M $139.5M $144.5M $147.3M
$0.30 $142.2M $154.6M $164.6M $170.9M $174.7M
$0.35 $163.5M $177.8M $189.4M $196.6M $201.6M
$0.40 $184.5M $200.8M $213.9M $221.9M $227.9M
$0.45 $205.2M $223.5M $238.1M $247.0M $253.7M
$0.50 $225.6M $246.0M $262.0M $271.8M $279.1M
$0.55 $245.8M $268.3M $285.7M $296.5M $304.3M
$0.60 $265.8M $290.4M $309.1M $320.8M $329.3M
$0.65 $285.5M $312.2M $332.5M $345.0M $354.2M
$0.70 $305.1M $333.9M $355.7M $369.1M $378.9M
$0.75 $324.4M $355.5M $378.7M $393.0M $403.4M

Scenario: $0.40/sqft with $25K Cap

Summary

Rate per sq ft Payment Cap Total Revenue Parcels Hitting Cap Equivalent Flat Rate
$0.4000 $25,000 $200,791,023 728 (0.4%) $1,015

Revenue Contribution by Property Area Decile

Decile (sqft) Median Payment vs Flat Rate Total Revenue % of Revenue
up to 818 $270 ▼27% $5,049,975 2.5%
818 - 1,019 $370 ▼36% $7,303,853 3.6%
1,019 - 1,175 $440 ▼43% $8,707,808 4.3%
1,175 - 1,325 $500 ▼49% $9,886,252 4.9%
1,325 - 1,511 $565 ▼56% $11,207,407 5.6%
1,511 - 1,758 $650 ▼64% $12,883,037 6.4%
1,758 - 2,100 $766 ▼75% $15,191,664 7.6%
2,100 - 2,676 $936 ▼92% $18,638,243 9.3%
2,676 - 3,905 $1,260 ▲124% $25,215,384 12.6%
over 3,905 $2,361 ▲233% $86,707,401 43.2%

Payment Quartiles by Use Code

Use Code P25 P50 P75 P95 P99
Single-Family Residential (SRES) $410 $535 $717 $1,138 $1,719
Multi-Family Residential (MRES) $995 $1,320 $1,876 $4,944 $13,534
Commercial Office (COMO) $1,198 $4,238 $18,000 $25,000 $25,000
Commercial Retail (COMR) $602 $1,300 $2,627 $11,143 $25,000
Industrial (IND) $1,302 $2,498 $5,360 $20,005 $25,000
Commercial Hotel (COMH) $3,016 $5,555 $11,847 $25,000 $25,000
Commercial Mixed (COMM) $129 $447 $877 $11,053 $25,000
Miscellaneous (MISC) $302 $516 $826 $7,539 $25,000

Revenue Contribution by Use Code

Use Code Total Revenue % of Revenue vs Flat Rate
Single-Family Residential (SRES) $92,146,844 45.9% ▼31.4pp
Multi-Family Residential (MRES) $67,250,929 33.5% ▲15.8pp
Commercial Office (COMO) $13,137,497 6.5% ▲5.8pp
Commercial Retail (COMR) $9,649,716 4.8% ▲3.0pp
Industrial (IND) $8,185,223 4.1% ▲3.2pp
Commercial Hotel (COMH) $5,373,057 2.7% ▲2.4pp
Commercial Mixed (COMM) $4,442,488 2.2% ▲1.1pp
Miscellaneous (MISC) $605,269 0.3% ▲0.1pp

Payment Quartiles by Property Class

Property Class P25 P50 P75 P95 P99
Single Family Dwelling (D) $475 $600 $800 $1,263 $1,928
Condominium (Z) $326 $442 $576 $848 $1,188
Flats & Duplex (F) $914 $1,124 $1,380 $1,925 $2,400
Apartments 15+ units (A15) $4,356 $6,162 $9,820 $25,000 $25,000
Apartments 5+ units (A5) $1,855 $2,394 $3,224 $4,778 $6,106
Office Building (O) $2,390 $7,532 $25,000 $25,000 $25,000
Commercial Stores (C) $960 $1,710 $3,153 $11,687 $25,000
Industrial (I) $1,536 $2,710 $5,726 $19,733 $25,000
Apartments (A) $1,161 $1,392 $1,616 $2,132 $2,748

Revenue Contribution by Property Class

Property Class Total Revenue % of Revenue vs Flat Rate
Single Family Dwelling (D) $64,733,365 32.2% ▼20.3pp
Condominium (Z) $24,227,186 12.1% ▼16.2pp
Flats & Duplex (F) $21,193,584 10.6% ▲0.6pp
Apartments 15+ units (A15) $17,211,183 8.6% ▲7.4pp
Apartments 5+ units (A5) $15,493,948 7.7% ▲4.5pp
Office Building (O) $11,639,886 5.8% ▲5.2pp
Commercial Stores (C) $7,227,786 3.6% ▲2.3pp
Industrial (I) $6,921,421 3.4% ▲2.7pp
Apartments (A) $5,705,169 2.8% ▲0.6pp

Scenario: $0.40/sqft with $25K Cap and Modelled Senior Exemption

Summary

Rate per sq ft Payment Cap Total Revenue Parcels Hitting Cap Equivalent Flat Rate
$0.4000 $25,000 $170,302,777 728 (0.4%) $861

Revenue Contribution by Property Area Decile

Decile (sqft) Median Payment vs Flat Rate Total Revenue % of Revenue
up to 818 $202 ▼23% $3,957,210 2.3%
818 - 1,019 $276 ▼32% $5,419,542 3.2%
1,019 - 1,175 $309 ▼36% $6,179,957 3.6%
1,175 - 1,325 $341 ▼40% $6,896,646 4.0%
1,325 - 1,511 $378 ▼44% $7,692,975 4.5%
1,511 - 1,758 $436 ▼51% $8,852,045 5.2%
1,758 - 2,100 $517 ▼60% $10,622,722 6.2%
2,100 - 2,676 $688 ▼80% $14,054,636 8.3%
2,676 - 3,905 $1,168 ▲136% $21,864,207 12.8%
over 3,905 $2,294 ▲266% $84,762,839 49.8%

Payment Quartiles by Use Code

Use Code P25 P50 P75 P95 P99
Multi-Family Residential (MRES) $995 $1,320 $1,876 $4,944 $13,534
Single-Family Residential (SRES) $269 $360 $486 $774 $1,179
Commercial Office (COMO) $1,198 $4,238 $18,000 $25,000 $25,000
Commercial Retail (COMR) $602 $1,300 $2,627 $11,143 $25,000
Industrial (IND) $1,302 $2,498 $5,360 $20,005 $25,000
Commercial Hotel (COMH) $3,016 $5,555 $11,847 $25,000 $25,000
Commercial Mixed (COMM) $129 $447 $877 $11,053 $25,000
Miscellaneous (MISC) $302 $516 $826 $7,539 $25,000

Revenue Contribution by Use Code

Use Code Total Revenue % of Revenue vs Flat Rate
Multi-Family Residential (MRES) $67,250,929 39.5% ▲21.8pp
Single-Family Residential (SRES) $61,658,598 36.2% ▼41.1pp
Commercial Office (COMO) $13,137,497 7.7% ▲7.0pp
Commercial Retail (COMR) $9,649,716 5.7% ▲3.9pp
Industrial (IND) $8,185,223 4.8% ▲3.9pp
Commercial Hotel (COMH) $5,373,057 3.2% ▲2.8pp
Commercial Mixed (COMM) $4,442,488 2.6% ▲1.5pp
Miscellaneous (MISC) $605,269 0.4% ▲0.2pp

Payment Quartiles by Property Class

Property Class P25 P50 P75 P95 P99
Single Family Dwelling (D) $475 $600 $800 $1,263 $1,928
Condominium (Z) $326 $442 $576 $848 $1,188
Flats & Duplex (F) $914 $1,124 $1,380 $1,925 $2,400
Apartments 15+ units (A15) $4,356 $6,162 $9,820 $25,000 $25,000
Apartments 5+ units (A5) $1,855 $2,394 $3,224 $4,778 $6,106
Office Building (O) $2,390 $7,532 $25,000 $25,000 $25,000
Commercial Stores (C) $960 $1,710 $3,153 $11,687 $25,000
Industrial (I) $1,536 $2,710 $5,726 $19,733 $25,000
Apartments (A) $1,161 $1,392 $1,616 $2,132 $2,748

Revenue Contribution by Property Class

Property Class Total Revenue % of Revenue vs Flat Rate
Single Family Dwelling (D) $64,733,365 38.0% ▼14.6pp
Condominium (Z) $24,227,186 14.2% ▼14.1pp
Flats & Duplex (F) $21,193,584 12.4% ▲2.5pp
Apartments 15+ units (A15) $17,211,183 10.1% ▲8.9pp
Apartments 5+ units (A5) $15,493,948 9.1% ▲5.9pp
Office Building (O) $11,639,886 6.8% ▲6.3pp
Commercial Stores (C) $7,227,786 4.2% ▲3.0pp
Industrial (I) $6,921,421 4.1% ▲3.3pp
Apartments (A) $5,705,169 3.4% ▲1.1pp

Scenario: $0.30/sqft with $25K Cap

Summary

Rate per sq ft Payment Cap Total Revenue Parcels Hitting Cap Equivalent Flat Rate
$0.3000 $25,000 $154,571,386 569 (0.3%) $782

Revenue Contribution by Property Area Decile

Decile (sqft) Median Payment vs Flat Rate Total Revenue % of Revenue
up to 818 $202 ▼26% $3,787,481 2.5%
818 - 1,019 $278 ▼35% $5,477,890 3.5%
1,019 - 1,175 $330 ▼42% $6,530,856 4.2%
1,175 - 1,325 $375 ▼48% $7,414,689 4.8%
1,325 - 1,511 $424 ▼54% $8,405,555 5.4%
1,511 - 1,758 $488 ▼62% $9,662,278 6.3%
1,758 - 2,100 $574 ▼73% $11,393,748 7.4%
2,100 - 2,676 $702 ▼90% $13,978,682 9.0%
2,676 - 3,905 $945 ▲121% $18,911,538 12.2%
over 3,905 $1,771 ▲227% $69,008,670 44.6%

Payment Quartiles by Use Code

Use Code P25 P50 P75 P95 P99
Single-Family Residential (SRES) $308 $401 $538 $854 $1,289
Multi-Family Residential (MRES) $746 $990 $1,407 $3,708 $10,150
Commercial Office (COMO) $899 $3,178 $13,500 $25,000 $25,000
Commercial Retail (COMR) $452 $975 $1,970 $8,357 $25,000
Industrial (IND) $976 $1,874 $4,020 $15,004 $25,000
Commercial Hotel (COMH) $2,262 $4,166 $8,885 $25,000 $25,000
Commercial Mixed (COMM) $97 $335 $657 $8,289 $25,000
Miscellaneous (MISC) $226 $387 $619 $5,654 $25,000

Revenue Contribution by Use Code

Use Code Total Revenue % of Revenue vs Flat Rate
Single-Family Residential (SRES) $69,116,383 44.7% ▼32.6pp
Multi-Family Residential (MRES) $51,329,741 33.2% ▲15.5pp
Commercial Office (COMO) $11,531,723 7.5% ▲6.7pp
Commercial Retail (COMR) $7,595,553 4.9% ▲3.1pp
Industrial (IND) $6,461,413 4.2% ▲3.3pp
Commercial Hotel (COMH) $4,410,507 2.9% ▲2.5pp
Commercial Mixed (COMM) $3,615,866 2.3% ▲1.2pp
Miscellaneous (MISC) $510,202 0.3% ▲0.2pp

Payment Quartiles by Property Class

Property Class P25 P50 P75 P95 P99
Single Family Dwelling (D) $356 $450 $600 $947 $1,446
Condominium (Z) $245 $332 $432 $636 $891
Flats & Duplex (F) $686 $843 $1,035 $1,444 $1,800
Apartments 15+ units (A15) $3,267 $4,621 $7,365 $25,000 $25,000
Apartments 5+ units (A5) $1,391 $1,795 $2,418 $3,584 $4,579
Office Building (O) $1,793 $5,649 $20,958 $25,000 $25,000
Commercial Stores (C) $720 $1,282 $2,365 $8,765 $25,000
Industrial (I) $1,152 $2,032 $4,294 $14,800 $25,000
Apartments (A) $871 $1,044 $1,212 $1,599 $2,061

Revenue Contribution by Property Class

Property Class Total Revenue % of Revenue vs Flat Rate
Single Family Dwelling (D) $48,556,274 31.4% ▼21.1pp
Condominium (Z) $18,170,389 11.8% ▼16.5pp
Flats & Duplex (F) $15,895,188 10.3% ▲0.4pp
Apartments 15+ units (A15) $13,789,397 8.9% ▲7.7pp
Apartments 5+ units (A5) $11,620,461 7.5% ▲4.3pp
Office Building (O) $10,302,215 6.7% ▲6.1pp
Commercial Stores (C) $5,613,954 3.6% ▲2.4pp
Industrial (I) $5,434,388 3.5% ▲2.7pp
Apartments (A) $4,278,877 2.8% ▲0.5pp

Scenario: $0.20/sqft with $10K Cap

Summary

Rate per sq ft Payment Cap Total Revenue Parcels Hitting Cap Equivalent Flat Rate
$0.2000 $10,000 $98,393,003 883 (0.4%) $498

Revenue Contribution by Property Area Decile

Decile (sqft) Median Payment vs Flat Rate Total Revenue % of Revenue
up to 818 $135 ▼27% $2,524,987 2.6%
818 - 1,019 $185 ▼37% $3,651,926 3.7%
1,019 - 1,175 $220 ▼44% $4,353,904 4.4%
1,175 - 1,325 $250 ▼50% $4,943,126 5.0%
1,325 - 1,511 $283 ▼57% $5,603,704 5.7%
1,511 - 1,758 $325 ▼65% $6,441,519 6.5%
1,758 - 2,100 $383 ▼77% $7,595,832 7.7%
2,100 - 2,676 $468 ▼94% $9,319,121 9.5%
2,676 - 3,905 $630 ▲127% $12,607,692 12.8%
over 3,905 $1,181 ▲237% $41,351,192 42.0%

Payment Quartiles by Use Code

Use Code P25 P50 P75 P95 P99
Single-Family Residential (SRES) $205 $267 $358 $569 $859
Multi-Family Residential (MRES) $498 $660 $938 $2,472 $6,767
Commercial Office (COMO) $599 $2,119 $9,000 $10,000 $10,000
Commercial Retail (COMR) $301 $650 $1,314 $5,572 $10,000
Industrial (IND) $651 $1,249 $2,680 $9,973 $10,000
Commercial Hotel (COMH) $1,508 $2,778 $5,924 $10,000 $10,000
Commercial Mixed (COMM) $64 $223 $438 $5,526 $10,000
Miscellaneous (MISC) $151 $258 $413 $3,770 $10,000

Revenue Contribution by Use Code

Use Code Total Revenue % of Revenue vs Flat Rate
Single-Family Residential (SRES) $46,070,922 46.8% ▼30.5pp
Multi-Family Residential (MRES) $33,169,291 33.7% ▲16.0pp
Commercial Office (COMO) $5,780,735 5.9% ▲5.2pp
Commercial Retail (COMR) $4,617,035 4.7% ▲2.9pp
Industrial (IND) $3,909,622 4.0% ▲3.1pp
Commercial Hotel (COMH) $2,487,427 2.5% ▲2.2pp
Commercial Mixed (COMM) $2,077,838 2.1% ▲1.0pp
Miscellaneous (MISC) $280,134 0.3% ▲0.1pp

Payment Quartiles by Property Class

Property Class P25 P50 P75 P95 P99
Single Family Dwelling (D) $238 $300 $400 $631 $964
Condominium (Z) $163 $221 $288 $424 $594
Flats & Duplex (F) $457 $562 $690 $963 $1,200
Apartments 15+ units (A15) $2,178 $3,081 $4,910 $10,000 $10,000
Apartments 5+ units (A5) $928 $1,197 $1,612 $2,389 $3,053
Office Building (O) $1,195 $3,766 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000
Commercial Stores (C) $480 $855 $1,577 $5,843 $10,000
Industrial (I) $768 $1,355 $2,863 $9,867 $10,000
Apartments (A) $581 $696 $808 $1,066 $1,374

Revenue Contribution by Property Class

Property Class Total Revenue % of Revenue vs Flat Rate
Single Family Dwelling (D) $32,364,182 32.9% ▼19.7pp
Condominium (Z) $12,113,593 12.3% ▼16.0pp
Flats & Duplex (F) $10,596,792 10.8% ▲0.9pp
Apartments 15+ units (A15) $8,155,238 8.3% ▲7.1pp
Apartments 5+ units (A5) $7,746,974 7.9% ▲4.6pp
Office Building (O) $5,082,558 5.2% ▲4.6pp
Commercial Stores (C) $3,488,409 3.5% ▲2.3pp
Industrial (I) $3,316,497 3.4% ▲2.6pp
Apartments (A) $2,852,585 2.9% ▲0.7pp