San Mateo County sees strong property tax gains but flags funding gaps, annual breakdown of property tax spending report revealed
San Mateo County, California – In Fiscal Year 2024–25, property taxes in San Mateo County added up to $4.1 billion, which is a 6% rise from the year before. The County Controller’s Office recently revealed new data that says the extra $238 million in revenue helps pay for a lot of local services, such as city, school district, special district, and county operations.
The County’s most recent Property Tax Highlights report for FY 2024–25 explains how those funds were raised and used. Only three counties in California, including San Mateo County, put out a public report like this every year. Juan Raigoza, the county controller, said that the idea is to make it clear to residents where their local tax dollars go and how those dollars help pay for public services.
The countywide 1 percent General Tax brought in $3.3 billion of the total $4.1 billion. That part is quite important for paying for everyday services. About 51% of the General Tax proceeds go to local education districts. The county got 25% of the money, and the cities got 16%. 7% went to special districts, and the last 1% went to agencies that took over from former redevelopment agencies.
The rest of the property tax bill had $438 million in special fees and $399 million set aside for paying off debt. Most of the time, special charges go to support services like fixing sewers, getting rid of mosquitoes, and controlling floods. These services mostly help cities and special districts. Most of the money in debt service dollars goes to paying off school bonds that voters approved.
The overall amount of money made from property taxes has gone up, but the rate of rise linked to assessed property values has slowed down in recent years. The General Tax grew by 6.7% in FY 2023–24 and 5.8% in FY 2024–25, although it has been going down since then, according to more recent assessments.
The report also highlights ongoing funding challenges related to the Vehicle License Fee Adjustment Amount, a key revenue source for local governments. San Mateo County and its municipalities will be short $119 million in FY 2024–25, plus more money that has not been paid from previous years. County officials say that delays in state payments make it hard to plan budgets and make it hard to provide public services in the area.
More information and details about the report can be found here.
