July 20, 2026
Honorable Mayor Kate Colin and City Council members
City of San Rafael
1400 Fifth Ave
San Rafael, CA 94901 via email: [email protected] RE: San Rafael City Council 7/20/26 meeting, agenda item no. 3.a. November 2026 Ballot Measure: Revenue enhancement – Real Property Transfer Tax Rate I discourage the city council from increasing the Documentary Transfer Tax (aka Property Transfer Tax) on it’s residents as a way to increase City Revenue. This is a TAX without any direct benefit to residents for it’s payment and is based on a percentage of the Selling Price of the Property. Proceeds go into the general fund and can be used for any purpose.
San Rafael is the only city in Marin County that has adopted their own transfer tax of $2.00/$1,000, so all other cities in Marin County share the $1.10/$1,000 collected by the County of Marin. As a result, San Rafael residents pay the full county transfer tax ($1.10/$1,000) in addition to the City's transfer tax of $2.00/$1,000, resulting in San Rafael residents paying a much higher rate of tax than any other city in Marin County.
For example, on the sale of a $1.5 million home, San Rafael residents currently pay the $1.10(county portion) plus $2.00 (city portion) for a total of $3.10/$1,000 or $4,650 in property transfer taxes as opposed to all other cities in Marin which are taxed at $1.10/$1,000 or $1,650. This means residents of the City of San Rafael currently pay the highest rate for property transfer taxes in the county or 182% more than any other resident in Marin County.
I think raising the City's property transfer tax rate to 1% is excessive and would result in even greater inequities between City of San Rafael residents and all other residents in Marin County. Taking a $1.5 million home, if the City raises their portion of property transfer tax to 1.0%, total tax paid by residents would be 1.0% or $10/$1,000 plus the county portion of $1.10/$1,000 for a total of $11.10/$1,000 or $16,650. This results in residents paying over 900% more than all other cities in Marin County.
Comparing the City of San Rafael to the east bay cities of Alameda, Hayward, and San Leandro who are all larger, in population, than San Rafael, with Hayward being almost 3x larger, is faulty and misleading. Comparing San Rafael to Santa Monica or Los Angeles makes no sense.
In the past, the City of San Rafael has often compared itself to San Luis Obispo who is also a charter city and a county seat but has NOT adopted their own property transfer tax. Another city that is comparable in size (using population) is Petaluma who is a charter city with a similar population and a city property transfer tax identical to San Rafael's ($2.00/$1,000). Other comparable sized cities (in population) I looked at that are also charter cities have not adopted a city transfer tax and instead, share in the county transfer tax collected. According to my research, of the 121 charter cities in California, only 26 have adopted their own property transfer tax.
Instead of sharply increasing the flat rate, have you considered a graduated, tiered percentage tax that increases based on the home’s sales price with more gradual increases, as was suggested by council member Eli Hill at the last Finance subcommittee meeting? Have you considered increasing taxes from other sources of revenue, rather than taxing your residents? I suggest you look at increasing the transient occupancy tax (TOT) or hotel tax. Currently, San Rafael’s TOT tax is 10%, which is on the lower end when compared to other Marin Cities. Novato, Corte Madera and Tiburon’s TOT is 12% and Sausalito is 14%. This does not include the additional assessment of 2% for the Marin County Tourism Business Improvement District (MCBID) which does not include all cities in Marin. Instead, some cities have their own “tourism tax”, such as Sausalito and Tiburon. Some cities charge a higher TOT for short term rentals (STR) than for traditional hotels.
Before incurring the costs of a ballot measure, I suggest you carefully consider other revenue sources before asking San Rafael residents to increase a tax on themselves which will result in a tax which is 900% higher than what other cities in Marin tax their residents.
Thank you for your consideration of my comments.
Victoria DeWitt