Should Albany voters approve Measure R? (November 3, 2026 ballot)

What's this about?

People disagree about whether Albany voters should approve Measure R on November 3, 2026.

The measure would change business fees and could raise about $600,000 each year.

What supporters say

• The measure would give Albany extra city money for fire safety, public safety, parks, or other needs.
• Gross receipts, or money a business takes in, may show business size better than worker counts.
• New rules could make fee payments, refunds, and appeals clearer and easier to manage.
• The money would stay in Albany instead of going to the state or federal government.

What critics say

• City leaders would not have to spend the new money on any promised service.
• Some businesses could owe much more money than other businesses.
• Some businesses might raise prices or cut worker pay to cover the new tax.
• A business with small profits could still pay a large tax on its total sales.

How to read this

The number of points on each side does not decide the issue; the strength of each point matters more.

Albany voters will decide on Measure R on Nov. 3, 2026. The measure would replace the city’s employee-count-based business-license system with new flat rates and gross-receipts charges, potentially raising about $600,000 a year for the city.

The case for

The strongest argument for Measure R is that it would create additional, locally controlled revenue for Albany’s General Fund. The city’s official impartial analysis estimates roughly $600,000 annually. Because the money would not be legally restricted to one program, elected officials could use it for fire protection, public safety, environmental efforts, community services or other lawful priorities. 1

That flexibility is both an advantage and a limitation. It would allow the city to respond to changing budget pressures, but it would not guarantee that the money goes to the services emphasized in campaign materials. The measure authorizes revenue; it does not require spending it on any particular purpose.

Measure R would also shift the tax base away from employee counts and toward flat charges or gross receipts. Gross receipts may better reflect the size of a business than its number of employees, particularly when companies have different staffing models. Municipal tax research points to possible benefits such as tying payments more closely to business activity and allowing revenue to grow with the local economy, though those are general advantages rather than Albany-specific forecasts. 2

The proposal would update the city’s rules for applications, renewals, calculations, unpaid taxes, refunds and appeals. Those changes could make collection more consistent and administration easier. But the official materials do not estimate how much money the city might save, how compliance might improve or what it would cost to put the new system in place. 3

The measure would also keep the revenue local rather than sending it to the state or federal government. Nearby cities provide examples that such systems can be administered, but differences in rates, exemptions and business types mean those examples cannot reliably predict Albany’s results. 4

The case against

The main concern is that a gross-receipts tax can apply even when a business makes little profit. Such taxes generally do not subtract wages, overhead, the cost of goods or purchases from other businesses. As a result, a high-volume, low-margin company could owe more than its profits would suggest. 5

The tax can also build up as goods and services move through a supply chain, a practice known as tax pyramiding. Businesses may respond through higher prices, lower wages, different suppliers or reduced investment. These effects are well-known possibilities, but the available evidence does not show how large they would be under Albany’s relatively small proposed tax. 6

The measure’s different rates and thresholds could also produce uneven effects across business categories. Residential rentals, retailers, service companies, contractors, professionals and other businesses may not face the same liabilities. The city’s revenue estimate gives an overall figure but does not show which businesses would pay more or less than they do now. Evidence from San Francisco suggests effects can vary by business size and sector, but it does not establish what would happen in Albany (see Figure 2).

The projected $600,000 should therefore be treated as an estimate, not a guaranteed annual return. The available materials do not disclose the forecast’s assumptions, expected collection rate, sensitivity to economic conditions or business-by-business distribution. Broader research suggests gross-receipts taxes can be about as stable as retail-sales taxes, but they generally rise and fall with other major taxes rather than clearly reducing a city’s overall revenue risks (see Figure 1).