Hayward's Measure CC Taxes Rent Collected, and Apartment Buildings Carry the Weight

Picture a single-family house in Hayward rented at $3,000 a month. Under Measure CC, its owner would owe the city about $135 a year in business license tax. The same house rented at the same price a few miles north in San Leandro owes $192.40. A 20-unit building grossing $500,000 a year is a different story. In Hayward it would owe about $1,875. In San Leandro it would owe a little over $500.

Both results come from one design choice. Starting in 2027, Hayward would tax rental property on the rent it collects, at a single flat rate. It would no longer charge by the unit or by the property. Anyone comparing Hayward income property with San Leandro, San Lorenzo or Castro Valley needs to know that before running the numbers.

Where the measure stands as this posts

Measure CC, the Hayward Business License Tax Modernization, was on the November 3, 2026 ballot. It needs a simple majority. In the Alameda County Registrar of Voters' Post Election Update #1, last updated Friday, November 6, 2026 at 5:32 p.m., it led 19,914 Yes (65.50%) to 10,490 No (34.50%). The Registrar labels those returns preliminary and unofficial. The Registrar scheduled more updates for November 9, 13 and 16. Any count posted after the November 6 snapshot appears on the Registrar's results page. Local News Matters reported on November 4 that the measure was ahead with about 65% in early returns.

Hayward's business license tax has not changed since July 11, 1978. According to the city's June 2, 2026 staff report, the new rates would take effect once the election is certified and would apply starting January 1, 2027, "calculated using calendar year 2026 gross receipts." That timing matters in a sale. The first year's tax on a Hayward rental would be based on rent that is being collected now, in the final weeks of 2026.

One rate, from the first dollar

The ordinance text puts residential and nonresidential rentals in a new Class J. Class J pays "three dollars and seventy-five cents ($3.75) for each one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) of annual Gross Receipts." Every business pays at least $60 a year. "Residential Rental" covers single-family houses, duplexes, triplexes, townhouses, condominiums and co-ops. It excludes stays of 30 consecutive days or less.

The ballot question describes rates running from $0.30 to $3.75 per $1,000, with higher rates for higher-grossing businesses. Most categories climb through brackets. Retail, for example, starts at $0.30 per $1,000 on its first $5 million. Rentals skip the brackets. A rental owner pays the top rate on the first dollar of rent, and the same rate on the last dollar.

A flat percentage of rent also cancels out unit count. A building's tax depends on what it collects, not on how many doors it has. Any city that charges per unit sees that relationship run the other way.

What the city's own model shows

The June 2 staff report includes a revenue model by category, using estimated 2026 gross receipts. The two residential rows are the clearest picture of who carries the change:

Under current law, the model shows the 4,858 payers in the one- to three-unit group contributing $0. Dividing the model's totals gives an average of about $31,850 in yearly rent per payer and about $119 in tax. For buildings with four or more units, the model's effective rate goes from $0.31 to $3.76 per $1,000 of receipts. Those 515 payers average roughly $548,800 in yearly rent, and their average tax goes from about $169 to about $2,060. The small-property group gets a new line item worth about a tank of gas each month. The apartment group sees its existing line item multiplied by roughly twelve.

The same three properties in three jurisdictions

Next, run the numbers against the two places a Hayward investor most often weighs instead.

San Leandro's fiscal 2026–27 business license fee schedule charges residential property rentals $176.13 a year plus $16.27 "per each unit or space." The city code puts single-family house rentals in that class. Owners with gross receipts of $5,000 or less pay half.

Alameda County's business license code governs unincorporated San Lorenzo and Castro Valley. It taxes residential rental operators $1.25 per $1,000 of gross receipts. Section 3.04.390 does not treat renting one single-family residence, or a residential property of no more than two units not counting an owner-occupied unit, as the business of renting residential property.

The table below assumes one license per property and uses illustrative rents:

For the house, Hayward comes in about $57 under San Leandro. For the fourplex, Hayward is close to double. For the 20-unit building, it is close to four times as much. One more unit in San Leandro adds $16.27 no matter what it rents for. One more $2,500-a-month unit in Hayward adds $112.50.

Where single-family owners cross over

San Leandro's flat charge for a single house is $192.40. Hayward's rate reaches that figure at about $51,300 in yearly rent, which is roughly $4,276 a month. A Hayward house renting below that would owe less than the same house in San Leandro. Above it, Hayward costs more. The gap stays small at either end of that range.

In buildings, the gap grows with every unit. Hayward's per-unit cost passes San Leandro's $16.27 as soon as a unit collects more than about $4,340 a year, roughly $362 a month. Every multifamily rent in the East Bay is well above that, so every added Hayward unit costs more than its San Leandro counterpart. Higher rents make the gap wider.

Owners of Hayward houses, condos and duplexes are paying something new, but the amounts are modest and often below San Leandro's. The apartment owner, who already pays a business license tax under the 1978 structure, is the one whose number changes most.

What changes in a Hayward multifamily underwrite

For anyone pricing a Hayward building against one in San Leandro or San Lorenzo, these items change the comparison:

1. Use gross scheduled rent to estimate the tax. At $3.75 per $1,000, the license tax equals 0.375% of rent collected. Treat it as a recurring operating expense that rises with rent.
2. Ask which year's receipts the first bill uses. The staff report ties the 2027 tax to calendar-2026 gross receipts. For a property that changes hands around year-end, ask the city how it will handle the first 2027 bill.
3. Recompute the gap at each rent level. San Leandro's per-unit fee stays the same as rents rise. Hayward's tax grows with them, so the difference between the two widens over a long hold.
4. Check city or county jurisdiction by parcel. A San Lorenzo or Castro Valley mailing address points to the county's $1.25 rate and the §3.04.390 small-property exclusion. A parcel inside Hayward city limits pays the $3.75 rate. The address alone does not settle it.
5. Watch for Hayward's implementation notices. The city's general business license application page is where registration and renewal start. Questions about the measure go to the City Manager's office at (510) 583-4300 or [email protected].

For context on the size of the change, the city projects the full measure adds about $12 million a year in general fund revenue across every business category. Combined, the two residential rental categories in the staff model rise from $86,982 to $1,644,043.

Quick answers

Does Measure CC apply to a single condo or house I rent out in Hayward? The ordinance's definition of residential rental includes single-family houses, townhouses and condominiums. Stays of 30 consecutive days or less are excluded, and every business pays at least $60 a year.

Is Measure CC a property tax? No. Hayward's City Attorney impartial analysis calls it a general business license tax. It says the tax applies to people conducting business in the city, not to residents who are not business owners or operators.

When would the first bill under the new rates arrive? The staff report says the rates apply beginning January 1, 2027, once the November 3 results are certified, and are calculated on calendar-2026 gross receipts.

Everything above is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm how these rules apply to your property with a tax professional or attorney, or directly with the city or county.

If you own a Hayward rental or are weighing a 1031 exchange into or out of one, Bert Aranda can help you work through what Measure CC means for that specific property's income and value. Start with a Free Home Valuation, and we'll put the 2027 tax figure into the numbers next to it.