Unfair Impact

Our communities are already struggling with the cost of living, and Measure E continues a historic, inequitable trend of disproportionately burdening East Oakland.

Because this is a flat-rate parcel tax, a homeowner in a working class neighborhood like East Oakland will be hit up to 48% harder (when measured as a percentage of median home value) than a homeowner in wealthier neighborhood like Rockridge. That is not progress; that is structural inequity.

Measure E is deceptively packaged as a tax on property owners, but the reality is much more damaging: it is a hidden tax that will severely burden Oakland’s renters and devastate our already struggling small businesses.

Proponents of Measure E want voters to believe that only landlords will pay the price. The truth is that property taxes do not exist in a vacuum; they inevitably trickle down. Housing providers are already navigating skyrocketing insurance premiums, inflation, and high city fees. When you add a new $192 annual parcel tax on top of this, property owners are forced to absorb the financial strain by passing the costs onto tenants through higher base rents or by reducing reinvestment and maintenance in existing properties. Ultimately, Measure E makes Oakland’s housing affordability crisis worse by driving up the true cost of living for renters.

Measure E’s negative impact extends far beyond residential homes. The measure targets commercial properties with an even higher tax rate based on property size. The unintended consequence is that the wealthy commercial landlords won't be the ones paying this tax—our local mom-and-pop businesses will. The vast majority of commercial tenants in Oakland operate under "triple net" (NNN) leases, a standard lease structure that legally requires the business owner (the tenant) to pay for all property tax increases.

When the city levies a new parcel tax on a commercial building, the bill goes directly to the local shops, restaurants, and service providers operating inside it. By forcing small businesses to absorb this cost out of their razor-thin margins, Measure E will force them to make impossible choices: cut employee hours, raise prices for local consumers, or close their doors completely.