The Facts

Mayor Daniel Lurie’s team has proposed a “progressive” Muni parcel tax for the November 2026 ballot to raise about $187 million a year and help close Muni’s $307 million operating deficit. Here, “progressive” means larger, higher‑square‑footage properties pay more per square foot than smaller ones.

Roughly 96% of single‑family homes under 3,000 square feet would pay a flat $129 per year, with an exemption option for eligible senior homeowners. Larger single‑family homes, multifamily buildings, and commercial parcels would pay higher, size‑based rates, with caps for big apartment and office properties. Most of the money would support Muni operations, with a portion for service improvements and administration.

The Context

Muni’s deficit could grow to $434 million within five years, and service cuts are on the table if new funding fails, according to Rachel Swan at The Chronicle. The agency has already “found hundreds of millions of dollars in savings” by cutting positions and improving efficiency, but still faces a structural gap.

Separately, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 63, the Connect Bay Area Act, allowing a five‑county November 2026 transit sales tax expected to raise about $980 million annually. The parcel tax and regional measure are designed to work together; if either fails, Muni may cut roughly a third of its lines and double wait times, as outlined in a Chronicle analysis.

The GrowSF Take

San Francisco needs stable funding for a cleaner, more frequent Muni, and SFMTA deserves credit for cutting costs before asking voters for more revenue.

We can't let public transit fail - it's too important for our economy. Without reliable transit, our streets will be clogged with hundreds of thousands of new cars from people driving into the city for work. Those workers are vital to funding other valuable city services.

We think the progressive nature of the tax, where smaller properties and renters would pay less than owners of larger buildings. Parcel‑tax pass‑throughs should be structured carefully so they don’t unduly burden low‑income renters, but it is totally reasonable that some share of a property‑based tax ultimately shows up in rental costs.

If this passes alongside the regional funding measure, this could put Muni on a sustainable path instead of a slow‑motion death spiral.