The largest businesses in Oakland, Calif., could have their taxes increased under a ballot measure the City Council on Thursday placed on the November ballot.
The tax overhaul would move Oakland from a flat tax to a progressive, tiered system. The ballot measure would annually add $22 million to the city coffers while giving tax breaks to more than 20,000 small businesses, Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas and Councilmembers Carroll Fife, Sheng Thao, and Dan Kalb said in a memo to the council.
Oakland’s tax system was last updated in 2005, and businesses of at least $10 million in revenue ...