Recommendations on Ballot Measures & Propositions

The League of Women Voters of Berkeley, Albany, Emeryville has reviewed the local ballot measures coming before voters in the November 3, 2026, General Municipal Election. Based on the LWVBAE’s policy position on Revenue and Taxation and others, with an emphasis on ensuring adequacy of funding for essential services, infrastructure, and public safety, LWVBAE supports every measure with two exceptions. We are taking no position on Berkeley’s arts funding measure, Measure Y, because it falls outside of the scope of our policy position research and our current member-adopted positions. We have conflicting policy positions on Measure Z, and so are therefore neutral on the measure.

Below is a guide to the measures on your ballot, city by city.

See where we stand on critical state propositions at the bottom!

Support – our positions support this
Oppose – our policy positions oppose this
Neutral – our positions are split
No position – we have not studied the issue

ALBANY MEASURES

Measure O — Zoning Change Requirement Update: SUPPORT

Measure O would not itself upzone Albany or approve any particular housing project. It would authorize the City Council, after the ordinary noticed public-hearing and zoning-amendment process, to change R-1 zoning rules without obtaining the special neighborhood-majority approval required by Albany’s 1978 Measure D. That distinction is important: it removes an unusual neighborhood veto while retaining public hearings, Planning & Zoning Commission review, City Council action, and other applicable legal procedures.

LWVBAE’s  housing position  states the cities should expand their housing stock and “identify and limit constraints on new housing construction,” specifically including the “power of residents to block project approval.” It also calls for zoning-code revisions that promote needed housing, encourages secondary units in single-family areas, and supports a predictable and timely permitting process. Measure O removes precisely the sort of neighborhood-level veto that this position identifies as a housing constraint. LWVBAE already supported a closely analogous reform of the same 1978 Measure D. In 2016, the League Supported YES on Albany Measure N1, which allowed the City Council to change Measure D’s voter-enacted residential parking requirements through the normal zoning process. The League described the purpose as giving Albany greater flexibility to encourage housing and respond to changing needs. 

LWVC policy strongly favors increasing housing supply and removing exclusionary zoning barriers. The California League supports increasing the supply of housing, infill development, density bonuses, second units, mixed and inclusionary zoning, and increased density along transportation corridors. Updates the 1978 rule (Measure D) that requires neighborhood-wide voter approval before the City Council can change single-family (R-1) zoning. Measure O would let the Council make these changes through the normal public hearing and ordinance process instead. Vote YES on O!

Measure P — Street Paving & Storm Drain Tax : SUPPORT

Measure P updates Albany’s existing 2006 Street Paving and Storm Drain Facility Improvement Tax (Measure F). The current tax supplies roughly $1.4 million annually for street and storm-drain work. Measure P would:

• Continue that funding;
• Add a very-low-income rebate and low-income exemptions/rebates;
• Allow the tax to apply to taxable possessory interests when the underlying property owner is tax-exempt; and
• Most importantly, if a parcel larger than 500,000 square feet becomes tax-exempt, change the tax formula from the current $167.65 per equivalent residential unit to $0.0638 per lot square foot.

That last provision is plainly aimed at the potential transfer of Golden Gate Fields to the East Bay Regional Park District. Golden Gate Fields currently generates about $287,000—nearly 22% of all revenue from the street/storm-drain tax. If it becomes publicly owned, that parcel-tax revenue would otherwise disappear.

The most compelling reason for supporting Measure P is LWVBAE’s adopted infrastructure and finance positions. The League supports a city tax structure that is “flexible, broad-based, equitable, economical, easy to administer and capable of producing adequate revenue.” It also says cities should maintain long-range budgets for existing capital facilities, that financing should be sufficient to cover major infrastructure-improvement programs, and specifically assigns priority to correcting infrastructure that creates liability and to restoration of heavily traveled streets.

Measure P fits those positions unusually well: it protects a dedicated funding stream for existing streets and storm drains from a foreseeable 22% revenue loss. There is also a strong environmental rationale. Storm-drain infrastructure is increasingly important for managing intense rainfall and runoff, while maintaining streets supports the safe operation of buses, bicycles, pedestrians at crossings, emergency vehicles and other transportation. Vote YES on P!

Measure Q — Emergency Medical Services & Fire Protection Tax : SUPPORT

Updates the existing EMS, advanced life support, and fire protection parcel tax, adding low-income exemptions and rebates. Raises an estimated $2.5 million a year to keep emergency medical and fire services funded.

LWVBAE’s adopted fiscal position also fits Q closely. It supports a municipal tax structure that is flexible, broad-based, equitable, economical, easy to administer, and capable of producing adequate revenue, and says cities should use long-range projections in budgeting. Measure Q is essentially a contingency plan to preserve an essential service when Albany loses a major taxpayer.

That contingency is substantial. Golden Gate Fields currently contributes about $400,000 annually to the EMS tax—nearly 20% of its total revenue. If the property is acquired by the East Bay Regional Park District as planned, it would become tax-exempt and that revenue would disappear absent some replacement mechanism. In other words, Measure Q does not address a hypothetical fiscal problem: Albany has a reasonably foreseeable loss of roughly one-fifth of the dedicated revenue supporting EMS and fire protection.

There is also support at the broader League level. LWVC’s health care positions favor adequate access to quality health services; historically, LWVC has recognized improved emergency medical services as consistent with its health-care position. Vote YES on Q!

Measure R — Business License Tax: SUPPORT

Reforms Albany’s business license tax so it’s based on a business’s gross receipts rather than its number of employees. Raises an estimated $600,000 a year for general city services, with funds that stay local. The most compelling basis for support is LWVBAE’s city-finance position: it says local taxes should be “flexible, broad-based, equitable, economical, easy to administer and capable of producing adequate revenue,” and, under business-license taxes, explicitly states that “Receipts should be the basis of the tax.” Albany’s current system generally taxes ordinary businesses according to their number of employees—currently $382 for an owner/sole employee plus $78 for each additional full-time-equivalent employee—while Measure R would move toward the gross-receipts basis the League expressly prefers.

That is an important policy advantage. An employee-based tax can effectively penalize businesses for hiring workers, while a receipts-based tax relates the tax more directly to the scale of the business’s economic activity. Albany itself commissioned a business-tax study that examined the effective tax burden on small, medium and large businesses and whether the existing tax structure tracks the underlying economic activity appropriately.

There is also strong support from LWV California’s state/local finance position. LWVC favors revenues that are sufficient and flexible, an equitable and fair sharing of the tax burden, broad tax bases, and local taxes evaluated for equity, adequacy, economic effects, simplicity and efficiency. It specifically favors tax systems that grow with the economy rather than becoming increasingly disconnected from economic activity. A gross-receipts business tax generally fits those criteria better than Albany’s unusually old employee-count system. Vote YES on R!

Measure S — Real Property Transfer Tax : SUPPORT

Adjusts the tax paid when property is sold in Albany, moving from a flat $15 per $1,000 to a sliding scale of $10–$30 per $1,000 depending on sale price. Raises an estimated $1 million a year for city services. Based on the League of Women Voters of California position on the State and Local Government Finance System, the League supports this measure. Measure S, if passed, would adjust the real property transfer tax in Albany from an across-the-board 1.5% rate to a value-based five-tiered rate structure.

The LWVC’s position on Finance supports a tax position that is flexible and equitable:

• Promoting a progressive tax structure
• That provides adequate revenue at the time of adoption as well as contributing to a system with good cyclical adequacy and that grows with the economy

Measure S neatly aligns with these principles. Vote YES on S!

Measure T — Street Trees & Streetlighting Tax : SUPPORT

Creates a new parcel tax to maintain and improve Albany’s street trees and streetlights, with an exemption for qualifying low-income residents and raises an estimated $775,000 a year. LWVBAE’s infrastructure position supports the measure. It states that cities should maintain an adequately funded long-term program for existing capital facilities, including parks and other public infrastructure, and that additional revenue should be raised when existing funds are inadequate, with protections for low- and fixed-income residents. Measure T has precisely that structure: dedicated ongoing funding plus a low-income exemption.

The environmental case is also substantial. Albany’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan calls for increasing the urban tree canopy and implementing a comprehensive urban-forestry plan. The City identifies trees as part of its climate strategy, and its street-tree program is currently supported partly through general-fund/Measure DD resources. Albany has approximately 6,000 trees in its streets, parks and open spaces. Urban canopy helps mitigate heat-island effects, provides habitat, sequesters carbon and improves pedestrian environments.

The streetlighting component also fits League safety and transportation policies. Albany’s own streetlighting study found locations where inadequate illumination creates safety concerns for pedestrians and bicyclists and recommended improving poorly lit intersections and crosswalks. The current City budget specifically identifies replacing failed or failing streetlights and finding sustainable funding for a more comprehensive City-run street-tree and streetlighting program as priorities. LWVBAE supports a healthy, safe and livable physical environment and infrastructure programs that addresses areas where injury or liability is a concern. Vote Yes on T!

BERKELEY MEASURES 

Measure U — Infrastructure & Facilities Bond: SUPPORT

Authorizes up to $300 million in general obligation bonds for emergency response facilities, parks, seismic and climate resilience upgrades, and replacing aging natural gas infrastructure. Although the City has sensibly increased investment in critical infrastructure in recent years, it requires an estimated $2 billion of investment in capital assets to maintain and upgrade its aging infrastructure. This $300 million bond measure is a step in a healthy direction for the City to meet its capital needs and move towards developing a long-term multi-year plan the public understands. This measure helps address critical needs that if not acted upon, will only become more expensive if the City doesn’t take pragmatic action in the right direction now. This needed measure requires two-thirds voter approval to invest in Berkeley’s current needs and those coming on the horizon and should be a part of long-term planning and investment strategy. Vote Yes on U!

Measure V — Sales Tax for the General Fund: SUPPORT

Adds a 0.5% sales and use tax to help close Berkeley’s general fund budget gap, generating an estimated $9–10 million a year, that brings the City’s sales tax rate up to reflect the sales tax rate in most cities in Alameda County. City officials have warned that without the tax revenue the measure will raise, the City is at risk of closing the North Berkeley fire station and laying off police officers and firefighters.

As previously stated, the increase simply brings the sales tax up to the level of  most Alameda County municipalities. The LWVBAE position on revenue and taxation emphasizes “adequacy,” so municipalities have the revenue needed to carry out the basic functions of a properly managed city, which include maintaining public safety departments at reasonable staffing levels. Further, the League’s position on climate change directs us to ensure the City has adequate fire mitigation infrastructure in an era of worsening climate change.  Vote YES on V!

Measure W — Election & Administrative Charter Amendments: SUPPORT

Makes multiple updates to Berkeley’s charter covering candidate filing fees, the Fair Elections public financing program, recall and referendum procedures, and redistricting rules. Measure W makes 11  changes to the City Charter, with three carrying substantive weight and eight aligning existing city language with state law.

Policy positions applied: Campaign Finance and DEI.

• Filing fee drops from $150 to the state code amount, currently $25. Direct barrier removal at the exact margin where first-time candidates without institutional backing decide whether to run.
• Candidate statements no longer require place of birth, place of residence, or taxpayer status. Birthplace disclosure invites nativist filtering, taxpayer status functions as a wealth screen, and home address disclosure is a safety exposure that falls hardest on candidates who already receive harassment.
• Public financing administrative cap rises from $250K to $400K. Increasing funding to keep up with rising costs is what keeps a public financing program relevant, helpful, and true to its democratic mission.

The measure is aligned with the League’s long commitment to expanding opportunities for citizens to run for public office, without the lack of personal wealth standing in the way as a prohibitive barrier. Investing in Berkeley’s public financing of campaign system expands opportunities and helps to reduce the outsized influence Big Money has in our political system. Vote Yes on W!

Measure X — Rent Stabilization Ordinance Amendments: SUPPORT

Updates Berkeley’s rent control law with a combination of tenant protections and administrative changes. Measure X amends Berkeley’s Rent Stabilization and Eviction for Just Cause Ordinance in several ways. It would make most rent-control and registration exemptions unavailable when a unit was not exempt at the start of the current tenancy; require notice to preserve the exemption for certain owner-occupied duplexes; permit fee reductions or waivers for subsidized units owned or leased by qualifying nonprofits; change the annual registration deadline; cap any periodic rent increase at 10% even when a landlord has accumulated (“banked”) prior annual adjustments; and extend tenant-association rights to some smaller properties.

The strongest basis for support is LWVBAE’s Berkeley rent-control position. It says Berkeley’s program should regulate rent increases and protect tenants from unwarranted increases while providing landlords a fair return; protect against arbitrary, discriminatory, and retaliatory evictions while preserving eviction for just cause; maintain Berkeley’s socioeconomic diversity; maintain the quality and quantity of housing; and make the system clear, predictable, efficient and fair. Measure X is largely consistent with those goals: several provisions are administrative clarifications, the exemption rule improves predictability for existing tenants, and the 10% cap protects tenants against unusually large, accumulated increases without reducing the ordinary Annual General Adjustment formula itself.

There are also favorable precedents. In 2004 LWVBAE supported Berkeley Measure O, which established the current CPI-based rent-adjustment formula because the League believed it better balanced tenant and landlord interests while increasing predictability. Vote Yes on X!

Measure Z — Public Bank Parcel Tax: NEUTRAL

Is in support of a Public Bank with a regional scope. Creates a parcel tax based on parcel size to help capitalize and support a proposed public bank with a central mission: to invest in long term affordable housing, green energy/infrastructure, and small businesses in Berkeley. Returns earned on investments are to be reinvested in the special fund and only used to support its central mission. The tax, which sunsets after six years, has the following rates for residential and non-residential properties:

Residential Rate: For all dwelling units, the tax shall be imposed at the rate of up to $0.06 per square foot of improvements. Non-Residential Rate: For all other property, the tax shall be imposed at the rate of up to $0.09 per square foot of improvements. 

The tax revenue collected by this measure will go into a special fund to capitalize and support the public bank that includes Berkeley in its service area. If approved by voters, City Council shall impose the tax. According to the impartial analysis provided by the City of Berkeley, funds received from the tax are subject to the review, allocation, and approval by the City Council.

The funding priorities of the bank are supported by League policy positions on climate change mitigation, affordable housing and homelessness, and economic development. This tax measure is to secure revenue to fund a bank so it can make lower-interest loans for projects that might otherwise have difficulty obtaining financing. But this public bank would have a regional scope, without a regional tax or coordinated municipal efforts to fund it. The League’s policy positions are therefore in conflict: Our policies on taxation and revenue emphasize equity and coordinated intergovernmental action, and this measure stands without other cities in the region advancing comparable measures or investment goals; on the other hand, our climate and housing positions support the stated goal of the bank. There is also concern about communication between campaigners and the City, with it remaining unclear how staff oversight will be paid for as of the time of this publication on September 9th. 

League recommendations are always grounded in our policies that are generated from years of study.  In this case, the aforementioned positions together are the basis of our Neutrality. 

Measure AA — Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax: SUPPORT

Raises Berkeley’s existing soda tax from 1 cent to 2 cents per fluid ounce and converts it to a dedicated special tax. The basis for supporting the measure lies in our State and Local Finance Position which grants “consideration of expanding the sales tax base to include carefully defined non-essential food items, such as candy, and admissions to amusements.”

The basis for League support lies in a 2021 California Public Health Department report that states that a 2 cent per ounce state tax on sugary beverages would reduce health care costs by 1.8 billion. The League has an established Health care position as well that is aligned with how the tax revenue will reportedly be used. Specifically, the proceeds will be reserved for projects to fight diet-related conditions like Type 2 Diabetes obesity, heart disease, tooth decay, and offer public health and nutrition education. Additionally, funding will be directed to fund access to clean water and healthier foods. The League supported the measure in 2014, the year the sugary sales tax first passed and continues to support the sales tax based on the League of Women Voters of California State and Local Finances and Health care positions. Vote Yes on AA!

Measure Y — Arts Institutions & Programs Parcel Tax : NO POSITION

This measure would create a 12-year parcel tax to fund a new Arts Vitality Fund for local performing arts organizations and civic arts programs. This falls outside our current adopted positions. As per League policy, we do not take positions on measures for which we have not studied the issue and therefore have not established a policy position. NO POSITION

EMERYVILLE MEASURE

Measure BB — Business License Tax Reform: SUPPORT

The Measure restructures Emeryville’s flat-rate business license tax into a gross-receipts-based model with different business categories. The City receives approximately $6–$7 million annually from its current business license tax. Under Measure BB, total annual business license tax revenues have been estimated to reach about $13.4 million. Therefore, Measure BB is expected to generate about $6–$7 million in additional annual General Fund revenue above what the City already receives. 

The passing of Measure BB will modernize the nearly 42-year-old business license tax system and benefit the city of Emeryville immensely and address the structural deficit without creating a new tax for residents. The revenues will remain local and support the City’s General Fund that support core municipal services, such as 9-1-1 emergency response and public safety, street and pothole maintenance, parks, services for youth and seniors, and emergency preparedness.

It is expected to safeguard the quality of life the community relies on, and it ensures that larger, more profitable businesses pay their fair share while small businesses will experience relief and will not be unfairly burdened. By increasing the gross-receipts threshold for the flat minimum business tax, more of Emeryville’s smallest businesses will qualify for the flat-rate taxation. Measure BB will not impact residents or homeowners and layers of oversight, including an independent citizens’ committee, that will track how funds are spent.

LWVBAE’s position on City Finances supports taxes that have receipts as a basis. LWVBAE’s position on Planning supports a city’s plans to enlarge its economic base by actively promoting and facilitating appropriate economic development. Furthermore, the League of Women Voters of California’s position on State and Local Government Finance Systems supports fair sharing of the tax burden, with an emphasis on income based taxes. The League’s position on the Flexibility of Revenue also supports funding priorities that give primary consideration to meeting the basic needs of the general population, attaining program objectives economically, and using procedures that promote flexibility and permit diversity of services. Measure BB aligns with the League’s positions. Vote Yes on BB!

Regional Transit Measure

2026 Nov Regional Transit Measure VWTL  Vote Yes on RTM! SUPPORT

State Propositions

VOTE WITH THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS CALIFORNIA

 

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