Property Tax in San Francisco: Assessment, Relief, and Appeals

The San Francisco property tax rate for the 2025–26 fiscal year is 1.18268325%, applied to your property’s assessed value rather than its market value. The Office of the Assessor-Recorder sets that assessed value, and the Office of the Treasurer & Tax Collector sends the bills and collects payment.¹ Because Proposition 13 caps how fast assessed values can rise, two neighbors in nearly identical homes can owe wildly different amounts depending on when each of them bought.

How Your Annual Bill Is Calculated

The rate has two layers. The base is 1% of assessed value, set by Article XIII A of the California Constitution.² On top of that sit voter-approved bond measures for schools, parks, and transit. Those bond rates shift year to year as old debt retires and new bonds are issued, which is why the combined San Francisco rate has moved between roughly 1.17% and 1.19% in recent years.

To estimate your bill, multiply your assessed value by the current rate. A property assessed at $800,000 would owe approximately $9,461 for 2025–26 at the 1.18268325% rate.¹ Your actual bill may also include smaller special assessments for things like sewer bonds or community facilities districts, itemized separately on the statement.

Why Assessed Value Is Not Market Value

Proposition 13, passed in 1978, locks your assessed value to the purchase price (or the value when new construction is completed) and limits annual increases to no more than 2%, regardless of what the market does. A home bought in 2005 for $700,000 may now be worth $1.8 million on the open market, but its assessed value has crept up slowly through those capped annual adjustments.

That protection resets the moment the property changes hands. The Assessor-Recorder restores the assessed value to current fair market value when a sale or other change of ownership occurs.² Major renovations and additions trigger reassessment too, but only the newly built portion gets revalued. The rest of the home keeps its protected base.

Supplemental Bills After a Purchase

When your value resets mid-year, the city doesn’t wait for the next annual bill. You receive a supplemental assessment covering the difference between the old and new values, prorated from the first of the month after the event through June 30.³ A buyer who closes in October can receive both the regular annual bill and one or two separate supplementals. New owners frequently overlook these, and the late-payment penalties are the same as for any other installment.

One common improvement does not trigger reassessment: a qualifying active solar energy system. Systems used for electricity production, water heating, or space conditioning are treated as if no new construction occurred.⁴ The exclusion is scheduled to expire January 1, 2027. Solar pool heaters, hot tub heaters, and passive solar designs don’t qualify.

Programs That Lower or Defer What You Owe

Several programs can reduce your assessed value or let you postpone paying. Most require filing an application with the Assessor-Recorder or a state agency.

Homeowners’ Exemption

If you live in your home as a primary residence, you can claim a $7,000 reduction in assessed value.⁵ At current rates that saves about $83 a year. Not a large sum, but it’s a one-time form and the exemption stays in effect until you sell or stop occupying the home. You must have owned and occupied it on January 1 of the year you claim.

Disabled Veterans’ Exemption

Veterans with a service-connected disability (or their unmarried surviving spouse) qualify for a far larger reduction. For the 2026 assessment year, the basic exemption cuts assessed value by $180,671. Veterans whose household income is at or below $81,131 qualify for the low-income version, which cuts assessed value by $271,009.⁶ These figures adjust annually for inflation.

Parent-Child Transfers Under Proposition 19

This catches many San Francisco families off guard. Before February 2021, parents could transfer almost any property to their children without reassessment. Proposition 19 narrowed the exclusion sharply. Today only a family home qualifies, and only if the child moves in as a primary residence and files for the homeowners’ or disabled veterans’ exemption within one year of the transfer.⁷

Even when a transfer qualifies, there’s a value cap. The excluded amount cannot exceed the property’s factored base year value plus $1,044,586 for transfers occurring between February 16, 2025, and February 15, 2027. If market value exceeds that combined figure, the difference gets added to the child’s new assessed value.⁷ In a city where modest single-family homes often sell well above $1.5 million, that cap matters. The application must be filed within three years of the transfer, and before the property is sold to a third party. Investment properties, second homes, and commercial real estate transferred within a family are now fully reassessed at market value.

Postponement for Seniors, Blind, and Disabled Homeowners

California’s Property Tax Postponement program lets qualifying homeowners defer payment entirely, with the state placing a lien on the home. You must be a senior, blind, or disabled, have household income of $55,181 or less, and hold at least 40% equity.⁸ The deferred amount accrues interest and comes due when the home is sold or the owner passes away. For homeowners on fixed incomes it can prevent a forced sale. The filing deadline for the 2025–26 program year is February 10, 2026.

Payment Deadlines and Penalties

San Francisco splits the bill into two installments. The first is due November 1 and becomes delinquent after 5:00 p.m. on December 10. The second is due February 1 and becomes delinquent after 5:00 p.m. on April 10.⁹ You can also pay the full year when the first installment is due.¹

Miss December 10 and the city adds a 10% penalty to the first installment. Miss April 10 and the second installment gets the same 10% plus additional fees.¹ On a $10,000 annual bill, 10% on one installment alone is $500. There’s no grace period, and the Treasurer’s office doesn’t send reminder notices before the delinquency date.

How to Pay

The fastest option is the Treasurer & Tax Collector’s online portal, where you enter your Assessor’s Parcel Number (also called the Block and Lot number) and pay by electronic check or credit card. The parcel number appears on your tax bill, on recorded deeds, and in the Assessor-Recorder’s online property search.¹⁰ E-checks carry no service fee. Credit and debit card payments carry a 2.25% fee with a $2.00 minimum, and that fee is nonrefundable even if you later get a refund on the tax itself.¹¹ On a $5,000 installment the card surcharge alone is $112.50.

You can also mail a check with the payment stub to the P.O. Box on your bill, or pay in person at City Hall during business hours. For mailed payments the postmark determines whether you’re on time.

Watch Your Escrow

If you have a mortgage, your lender likely collects property tax monthly and holds it in an escrow account, then disburses to the Treasurer before the delinquency deadlines.¹² Escrow mistakes do happen. If the lender underfunds the account or misses a payment, the penalty lands on your property, not theirs. Log into the Treasurer’s portal once a year to confirm your taxes show as paid.

Appealing an Over-Assessment

If you believe the Assessor-Recorder overvalued your property, you can file with San Francisco’s Assessment Appeals Board. This is worth considering after a purchase if comparable sales suggest the assessor set your value too high, or during a market downturn when assessed values may exceed what the home would fetch.

Filing requires a $120 nonrefundable administrative processing fee as of August 1, 2025. That fee is waived if the property is assessed at $7,500 or less, if the disputed difference is $7,500 or less, or if you qualify for a waiver of court fees under California Government Code Section 68632.¹³ If your appeal proceeds to a hearing, a separate fee applies based on assessed value:

$250,000 or less: no charge
$250,001 to $2,000,000: $100
$2,000,001 to $10,000,000: $200
$10,000,001 to $20,000,000: $500
Over $20,000,000: $800 to $19,200, scaled by value

Half of the hearing fee is refundable if the board reduces your assessment to your stated opinion of value or by 30% or more, provided you request the refund in writing within 30 days of the decision.¹³ If you withdraw, you must do so at least 30 days before the hearing to get a refund. For most homeowners the total cost is modest compared to the potential tax savings.

Federal Deduction Limits

Your San Francisco property tax is deductible on your federal return if you itemize on Schedule A. You deduct what you actually paid during the tax year for state and local real property taxes.¹⁴ The state and local tax (SALT) cap for 2026 is $40,000 for most filers and $20,000 for married filing separately. That cap covers all state and local taxes combined, including California income tax, so many San Francisco homeowners hit it before deducting their full property tax bill. The SALT cap is subject to a modified adjusted gross income limitation for higher earners but cannot be reduced below $10,000.

Several charges that may appear on your tax bill or closing statement aren’t deductible: transfer taxes paid when you buy or sell, homeowner association fees, and service charges for water, sewer, or trash collection.¹⁴

1
Treasurer & Tax Collector. Secured Property Taxes
2
California Legislative Information. California Constitution – Article XIII A – Tax Limitation
3
California State Board of Equalization. Supplemental Assessment
4
California State Board of Equalization. Active Solar Energy System Exclusion
5
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Homeowners’ Exemption
6
State Board of Equalization. Disabled Veterans’ Exemption Increases
7
California State Board of Equalization. Proposition 19 Fact Sheet
8
California State Controller. Property Tax Postponement
9
Taxes. Property Tax Function Important Dates
10
San Francisco Office of the Assessor-Recorder. RP Property Search
11
Treasurer & Tax Collector. Service Fee
12
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 1024.17 Escrow Accounts
13
SF.gov. Assessment Appeals Board Fees
14
Internal Revenue Service. Topic no. 503, Deductible Taxes