Ask a Piedmont seller which city cost eats into their proceeds the most, and most guess commission first, escrow second, and transfer tax somewhere down the list as background noise. For 33 years, that instinct has actually been correct. Piedmont's real property transfer tax has sat at 1.3 percent since 1993, and according to the city's own comparison, that rate is lower than what Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville and Oakland already charge, despite Piedmont carrying some of the highest home values in Alameda County. On November 3, that gap starts to close.
The Piedmont City Council unanimously adopted an ordinance in July 2026 sending a rate increase, from 1.3 percent to 1.75 percent, to voters this fall. The ballot question puts it plainly:
"increasing the real estate transfer tax from 1.3% to 1.75%... to generate approximately $1,500,000 annually"
If it passes, the new rate takes effect July 1, 2027. If it doesn't, Piedmont keeps the lowest local transfer tax rate among its immediate neighbors, at least for now. Either way, this is the kind of detail that belongs in a pre-listing conversation, not something a seller discovers on a closing statement.
The Comparison Piedmont Kept Winning by Accident
When Piedmont last touched its transfer tax rate, Bill Clinton hadn't taken office yet. Oakland, Berkeley, Albany and Emeryville have all moved since. Oakland voters approved Measure X in 2018, replacing a flat 1.5 percent transfer tax with a graduated schedule that charges progressively more as sale prices climb. Berkeley, Albany and Emeryville each layered their own city-level taxes on top of the standard county rate as well, at their own pace over the decades since Piedmont's rate was last set.
Piedmont didn't follow. A 2020 attempt to raise the rate to 1.75 percent narrowly failed at the ballot box, and the city simply left 1.3 percent in place. The result, three decades and several rounds of neighbor increases later, is a Piedmont that quietly became the cheapest place in the immediate area to transfer title, according to the city's own staff analysis presented alongside this year's ballot argument. That's not the story most people expect from the county's priciest zip codes, and it's exactly the kind of detail that doesn't show up on a Zestimate or a generic closing cost calculator.
| City | Local Transfer Tax Picture (2026) |
|---|---|
| Piedmont | Flat 1.3% since 1993; 1.75% on the November ballot |
| Oakland | Graduated schedule since 2018's Measure X, with higher tiers well above Piedmont's current rate |
| Berkeley | City-level tax layered on top of the county rate |
| Albany | City-level tax layered on top of the county rate |
| Emeryville | City-level tax layered on top of the county rate |
What the Measure Actually Does, and When
The mechanics matter more than the headline number, especially if you're weighing a sale over the next 18 months.
- 1993: Piedmont sets its transfer tax at 1.3 percent, where it remains for the next 33 years.
- 2020: A ballot effort to raise the rate to 1.75 percent narrowly fails.
- May 2026: The Budget Advisory and Financial Planning Committee recommends a range of 1.5 to 1.8 percent to fund aging buildings, stormwater infrastructure and road work.
- June 2026: The City Council directs staff to prepare a ballot measure and adopts the FY2026-27 budget referencing the plan.
- July 2026: The Council unanimously adopts an ordinance setting the proposed rate at 1.75 percent and formally places it on the November ballot.
- August 7, 2026: The city submits measure materials to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters, meeting the filing deadline.
- November 3, 2026: Piedmont voters decide, by simple majority, whether the increase takes effect.
- July 1, 2027: If approved, the new 1.75 percent rate becomes active.
Nothing changes between now and next July regardless of the outcome. A home that closes escrow on June 29, 2027 pays the current rate. One that closes two days later, if the measure passes, pays the higher one. For a seller with any flexibility in their timeline, that's a real lever, not a rounding error.
What This Actually Costs on a Real Sale
As of June 2026, the median Piedmont home sold for $3.1 million over the trailing three months, up 9.8 percent from the same period a year earlier. Run that number through both rates and the gap stops being abstract.
At 1.3 percent, the transfer tax on a $3.1 million sale comes to $40,300. At 1.75 percent, it climbs to $54,250. That's a difference of just under $14,000 on a single, fairly typical transaction in this market. In Alameda County, city transfer taxes are customarily split between buyer and seller, though the city's own reporting notes that individual buyers and sellers are free to negotiate any arrangement they choose. Whatever the split ends up being, it's worth writing into the purchase contract explicitly rather than assuming custom will hold.
Zoom out and the number gets bigger. At the current 1.3 percent rate, Piedmont's transfer tax revenue is budgeted at $4.2 million annually. The city's own estimate for the 1.75 percent rate is roughly $1.5 million more per year, money earmarked for facilities maintenance, stormwater drains and road conditions the city says it can no longer keep deferring.
The State Ballot Fight That Almost Made This Moot
For most of the spring, there was a separate reason to wonder whether any of this would matter. A statewide initiative gathered enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot with language that would have capped every charter city's transfer tax, Piedmont included, at the state's baseline rate of roughly 0.11 percent, regardless of what local voters decided. Had that measure gone forward unchanged, it would have overridden Piedmont's local vote entirely.
That didn't happen. According to reporting on the negotiations, a compromise between the governor's office and the measure's proponents narrowed the final ballot language considerably. What remains, Proposition 43, raises the vote threshold for future citizen-initiated special taxes to two-thirds starting January 1, 2027, but it explicitly does not disturb local tax measures approved on or before the November 2026 election. That means if Piedmont voters approve the transfer tax increase this fall, it stands on its own, independent of how the statewide measure fares. Sellers who'd heard vague rumblings about a state fight over transfer taxes can set that particular worry aside for this specific measure.
Oakland's Own Measure Is a Different Animal
Piedmont isn't the only city with a transfer tax question on the same ballot. Oakland's City Council voted unanimously to add its own measure, authored by Councilmember Charlene Wang, that modifies foreclosure exemptions within the city's existing real property transfer tax. Rather than raising the rate itself, it narrows a loophole, and city projections estimate it could generate an additional $4 million to $13 million. For anyone comparing a Piedmont sale against an Oakland one this cycle, it's worth knowing the two measures are solving different problems. Piedmont is trying to raise its baseline. Oakland is trying to close a gap in an already higher one.
If You're Weighing a Sale Over the Next Year
A few practical takeaways worth raising with whoever is helping you sell:
- If your timeline has any flexibility, ask where a closing date lands relative to July 1, 2027, and whether that's worth planning around.
- Confirm in writing how the transfer tax will be allocated between you and the buyer. Custom is a starting point, not a guarantee.
- Certification of the November election results can take time. Don't assume the outcome is final the morning after the vote.
- If you're also considering an Oakland property, remember its measure changes an exemption rule, not the headline rate. The math is different from Piedmont's.
A Few Questions We Hear Often
Does the transfer tax apply to buyers too, or just sellers? In Alameda County, city-level transfer taxes are customarily split between buyer and seller, though the county's documentary transfer tax is typically paid by the seller. All of it is negotiable in the purchase contract, which is exactly why it's worth specifying rather than assuming.
What if my escrow is scheduled right around July 1, 2027? Talk with your escrow officer and agent early. The rate that applies is generally tied to the date the deed records, so a closing that slips by even a few days across that line could change the number on your settlement statement.
Does this measure need a two-thirds vote to pass? No. Because the revenue can be used for general municipal purposes rather than a specific, dedicated program, it only requires a simple majority of Piedmont voters on November 3.
Piedmont's transfer tax has been an accident of good timing for sellers for three decades. Whether that continues depends on a single vote this November, and the answer will shape net proceeds on every Piedmont sale that follows. If you're thinking about listing in the next year, now is the moment to build that timeline with someone who's tracking it closely.
Teri Carlisle & Alexandra Dierkx can walk you through exactly what this means for your specific sale, from the current numbers to what a post-July 2027 closing could look like. Request a complimentary home valuation and let's map out your timing together.
