The Emergency Services Facilities Tax (ESF) is a general tax adopted by the City Council in September 1990 to retrofit or strengthen the City of Hayward facilities against earthquake damage. The ESF tax is not a property or utility tax, but a flat amount of excise tax.

Payments are billed/collected in several ways. The tax is imposed per household, per business employee or on persons eligible for the Transient Occupancy Tax, as follows:

• Single-family residences pay $6 per bimonthly utility bill;
• Multi-family residences pay $36 per unit per year;
• Mobile homes within a mobile home park pay $24 per unit per year;
• Persons eligible for the Transient Occupancy Tax pay two (2) percent of the total rent charged;
• Businesses pay by the number of employees:
  - 1 to 3 persons, $15 per year
  - 4 to 15 persons, $35 per year
  - 16 to 40 persons, 100 per year
  - 41 to 100 persons, $250 per year
  - 101 persons and above, $550 per year

Exemptions: The Emergency Services Tax will not be imposed on any person that qualifies as very low income as defined by the Low Income Discount Application.

For more information, please call Emergency Services Facilities Tax at 510.583.4634.

Additional Information:
Hayward Municipal Code
Emergency Services Facilities Tax Brochure

The City of Hayward has implemented a Living Wage Ordinance. The living wage rates for contracts subject to the Ordinance, effective July 1, 2025, are as follows:

Beginning July 1, 1999, certain types of City of Hayward service contracts or purchase orders in excess of $25,000 for the term of the contractual relationship became subject to the requirements of the City of Hayward Living Wage Ordinance.  These include contracts for vehicle repair and maintenance; building and facility repair and maintenance; janitorial and laundry services; landscape maintenance; security services; and pest control.

At the inception of the ordinance, the ordinance provides that “Service contractors …shall pay their employees a wage of no less than eight dollars ($8.00) per hour, if health benefits are paid to employees or nine dollars and twenty-five cents ($9.25) per hour if no such health benefits are paid.”  Health benefits are defined as “payment of no less than one dollar and twenty-five cents ($1.25) per hour toward the cost of health and medical care insurance for employees and their dependents.”  The Ordinance also places notification responsibilities upon the Contractor and provides certain rights to the Contractor’s employees.

In addition, the Ordinance contains an escalator that states, “The hourly rates contained in this section shall be upwardly adjusted each July 1 to reflect the change in the Bay Area Consumer Price Index for the twelve-month period preceding April 1.”  According to information obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Price Index for All Urban Consumers, San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, increased 1.27% during the period April 2024-April 2025.  The wage rates effective July 1, 2025 reflect this increase.

Please indicate below if you are willing to comply with the terms and conditions that it contains.  If you will comply, the contract or purchase order between your firm and the City will be reviewed and revised to incorporate this requirement.  If you are unwilling to comply, the contract or purchase order will be cancelled.

Form of Compliance

Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), also known as "hotel tax" or "bed tax," is authorized under the State Revenue and Taxation Code 7280 as an additional source of non-property tax revenue to local government.

The Transient Occupancy Tax is applied to any person who occupies a hotel/motel room for thirty (30) consecutive calendar days or less. The tax is 8.5% of the rent charged by the hotel or motel operator

No exemption is granted except upon a claim made at the time rent is collected. For persons eligible for the Transient Occupancy Tax, the Emergency Services Facilities tax shall be an additional 2% of the total rents charged.

No tax shall be imposed upon:

• any Federal or State of California officer or employee when on official business; and
• any officer or employee of a foreign government who is exempt by reason of express provision of federal law or international treaty.

For more information, please call Revenue at 510.583.4640.

The Utility Users Tax, first approved by Hayward voters in 2009, was extended during the June 2016 special election.  It is the City's third-largest revenue souce and a major component of public safety funding. It is a 5.5% tax levied on utilities such as electricity, gas and telecommunications.

1. What is a Utility Users tax (UUT)?
   This is a tax approved by local voters, and assessed on various utilities to raise funds for that jurisdiction. In Hayward, these funds are deposited into the General Fund and help insure that cutbacks to city services such as firefighters, paramedics and police and are kept to a minimum. The voters of Hayward approved this ordinance (Ballot Measure A) on May 19, 2009 and it was extended during the June 7, 2016 special election (Hayward, Measure D). (Utility Users Tax ordinance)
2. What is the tax rate? When will it end?
   In Hayward the tax rate is 5.5%, and will end June 30, 2039.
3. Do other cities have a UUT? How do their rates compare to Hayward?
   Over 150 cities in California have implemented a utility user tax as a local revenue source. Cities in Alameda County with a UUT include: Alameda (7.5%); Albany (6.5-7.0%); Berkeley (7.5%); Emeryville (5.5%); Oakland (7.5%); Piedmont (7.5%); San Leandro (5.7-6.0%); Unincorporated Alameda County (6.5%).
4. How much revenue does the UUT generate annually for the City of Hayward?
   Currently this tax is generating $16.9 million dollars annually, which is 11.9% of the City’s general fund revenues.
5. What is it charged on?
   • Communication Services – traditional telephone service, including long distance service and ancillary services such as call waiting.
   • Prepaid or billed wireless/cellular phone service and internet telephony services such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
   • Video or cable television services.
   • Electricity and Gas (natural or liquid).
6. Who must pay the UUT?
   The UUT is paid by all Hayward residents and businesses that are utility users. The tax is collected by the utility service providers, and remitted to the City monthly. If unpaid, the utility will refer the debt to the City of Hayward who will use established collection procedures to collect the amount due.
7. Who is exempt from paying the UUT?
   There are statutory exemptions and low-income exemptions available. Federal and State governments, including public schools and State universities are not required to pay the tax. State law exempts insurance companies and insurance brokers (but not agents) and federal credit unions. Individuals who qualify and are enrolled in the Lifeline telephone program (ULTS) are exempt from the tax. There is also an exemption for households with an annual income that is less than 50% of the median family income for the County of Alameda (as established by HUD). Please call the City of Hayward Revenue Division at 510.583.4600 for any questions, or download a copy of the Low Income application.
8. My company provides utility service. How do I remit the payment?
   Much of the information can be found at www.uutinfo.org. Your payment must be received by the City no later than the 20th of the month following collection, otherwise penalties and interest will accrue.
9. Where can I go for additional information?
   You can submit your question through:

 Access Hayward.

You can also call the City of Hayward Revenue Division at 510.583.4610.

The City of Hayward Purchasing Division manages bids and contracts for materials, equipment, supplies and maintenance services.

If you would like to register as a vendor with the City of Hayward and receive any Requests for Quotation for these products or services:

• complete Vendor Application
• mail it with any additional information you consider necessary, such as a catalog or line card, to:

City of Hayward
Purchasing Division
777 B Street
Hayward, CA 94541

For more information, please call Purchasing at 510.583.4800.

Note: If your firm provides professional consulting services, you may register as a vendor with the Purchasing Division. However, Purchasing does not manage the process of selecting professional consultants. This is done on a decentralized basis by department.

For more information on providing professional consulting services to the City, please call City Manager's Office at 510-583-4300.