Hayward voters will decide whether to update the city’s 48-year-old business tax

Hayward voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to update the city’s 48-year-old Business License Tax, a proposed change the city says would generate approximately $12 million in additional annual revenue for the General Fund.

The City Attorney’s impartial analysis is due Monday, Aug. 3. The measure remains a proposal and would require voter approval before the proposed tax changes could take effect.

What voters will see

The ballot question asks whether Hayward should update its Business License Tax for the first time since 1978, support general city services and establish a $60 minimum tax with proposed rates ranging from $0.30 to $3.75 per $1,000 of gross receipts, with higher rates for higher-grossing businesses.

The election is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. A yes vote would approve the ordinance described in the measure.

How the proposed tax would change

Hayward’s current annual tax structure is based on flat fees by business category, employee counts and limited gross-receipts categories. City records say the current structure was adopted July 11, 1978, and has not been comprehensively amended since then.

The proposed ordinance would move more businesses toward a gross-receipts-based system. The city describes the framework as more progressive, with generally higher rates for higher-grossing, typically larger businesses and lower rates for lower-grossing, typically smaller businesses.

The proposed rate schedule ranges from $0.30 to $3.75 per $1,000 of gross receipts, depending on the business category and revenue bracket, with a $60 minimum tax. The city’s published table also lists estimated average effective rates that differ by category. For example, the table lists average effective rates of $0.60 per $1,000 for retail sales, $0.78 for business and personal services, $1.60 for professional services, $3.77 for commercial rental property and $3.76 for residential rental property in buildings with four or more units.

Those are city estimates, not a claim that every business or industry would pay more. The table projects changes in revenue by category, including retail sales rising from about $694,000 under the current structure to about $1.74 million under the proposal, while hotel and motel revenue rises from about $8,000 to about $9,000. Actual effects would depend on the business category, gross receipts and the ordinance’s detailed schedule. Businesses should review the full ordinance for specific calculations.

Where the money would go

The Business License Tax is a general tax. Revenue would go into Hayward’s General Fund rather than being dedicated to one specific department or project.

City materials list police protection, firefighting, 911 response, library operations, pothole repair, maintenance and graffiti cleanup among the services supported through the General Fund. The city estimates that the modernization would add approximately $12 million annually, but that is a projection rather than a guaranteed annual collection or a promise of funding for a particular service.

How the measure reached the ballot

The City Council voted unanimously June 2 to place the measure before voters. The council’s legislative record says the action established the Nov. 3 election date, approved the ballot question and underlying ordinance, requested consolidation with the statewide general election, directed preparation of the City Attorney’s impartial analysis and established ballot-argument procedures.

Key dates ahead

• Aug. 3: Deadline to file the City Attorney’s impartial analysis with the City Clerk.
• Aug. 7: Deadline to file the ballot question, full text and impartial analysis with the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and Registrar of Voters.
• Aug. 10 at noon: Deadline to file direct arguments with the City Clerk.
• Aug. 14 at noon: Deadline to file rebuttal arguments with the City Clerk.
• Aug. 24: Deadline to submit direct and rebuttal arguments to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.
• Nov. 3: Hayward voters decide the measure.

As of Aug. 1, the city’s ballot-measures page listed the impartial analysis as “Coming Soon.”

Sources

• City of Hayward ballot-measures notice
• Hayward City Council legislation record, LB 26-011