Well, you can’t get it in Berkeley, yet. The County insists they check tax assessments for accuracy, see: SpecialAssessmentsPortal.pdf (acgov.org). The City insists they only tax “basements” and not “crawlspaces”. But, a search of the City’s second set of books tells a different story. This database derived from drawings on 1950s 4×6 cards, is a story of arbitrariness and haphazard taxation. Many don’t pay square footage taxes on their basements. The space is simply crossed off (or erased from) the fancy little building cards. See for yourself!

Here are examples of folks who have been treated fairly when we are not:

Bonita Example: Basement is shown on card as 1248 ft2, and total of 7797 ft2, which total is not charged this taxpayer.  Finance does not charge the landlord for the basement. Actual charges for this Bonita property are 6919 ft2 as seen in the attached database

This image also shows that the building department/County Assessor has a mismatched square footage, even when excluding the basement.  This building was rebuilt in Jan. 1962. 

Channing Example: Basement was removed from the square footage tally because it was “dirt floored and used for storage”

This photo of the Channing Example was taken just before the owner obtained a permit to do a house lift.

Deakin Example: The 720 ft2 basement, described as a “full basement” is not included. No explanation given.

This is how the basement looked when the property sold earlier this year:

Grant Example: Exempted area under the house labeled as 528 ft “excess wall”.  This is how the owner describes that area when they were selling this year: “There is an additional workshop space/storage with its own separate entrance”

Jefferson Example: Basement square footage of 840 ft2 crossed completely off.  The owner described that space as 6’ headroom unusable space.  See permit also attached.

This is how the homeowner described their basement as unusable to avoid taxation.  It worked!

McGee Example: Finished basement distinguished from unfinished and only finished charged.

Otis Example:  Finished basement square footage of 564 ft2 is not included in the total

Spruce Example: Finished basement is in parenthesis and is not included.  1992 addition is also not included.  2344 ft2 house is only charged 1357 ft2 as seen in the attached database, because the 1991 addition and the basement are not charged city taxes.

Here is the City’s inaccurate taxable square footage value for the Spruce example:

Vincente Example: Unfinished basement square footage of 352 ft2 is in parenthesis and not included in total

As these examples and numerous others show, the City’s square footage database is inaccurate.  It is time to correct ALL of the 11 Harmed Homeowners, and the few others who have asked for corrections/refunds in the name of uniformity of taxation.

We are willing to share the actual addresses with anyone who asks.  They are just redacted here to protect the identity of the homeowners who, more than likely, have played no part in the inconsistencies, and should not be blamed by the public.

ALL taxpayers are entitled to fair and equitable treatment.