On the San Luis Obispo County tax rate schedule for fiscal year 2025-26, most of Grover Beach sits at 1.15321%. Most of Arroyo Grande and several Lucia Mar Unified areas of Pismo Beach sit at 1.06821%. The gap is 0.085%, and all of it comes from one column, the voter-approved Measure K-14 street bond. Neighbors on the same block don't pay that bond equally. The levy is charged per $100,000 of assessed value, so the owner whose assessment reflects a recent purchase price carries more of it than a neighbor who has owned for decades. Those recent purchases are also a big reason the rate has stayed below what voters were told to expect in 2014.
Reading the line on a Grover Beach tax bill
The county describes the property tax as a base levy of $1 per $100 of full value, which is the familiar 1%, plus any voter-approved bonded debt. Here's how the components stack up on the county's 2025-26 rate schedule for the most common tax rate areas in each city:
| Component, FY 2025-26 | Grover Beach, most TRAs | Arroyo Grande, most TRAs | Pismo Beach, TRAs 004-001 to 004-003 and 004-005 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prop 13 base | 1.00000% | 1.00000% | 1.00000% |
| State water project | 0.00321% | 0.00321% | 0.00321% |
| City bonds, Measure K-14 | 0.08500% | none | none |
| School bond | 0.04600% | 0.04600% | 0.04600% |
| Community college | 0.01500% | 0.01500% | 0.01500% |
| Special district | 0.00400% | 0.00400% | 0.00400% |
| Total | 1.15321% | 1.06821% | 1.06821% |
A few areas break the pattern. Grover Beach's TRA 005-001 drops the special district levy and totals 1.14921%. Five Lucia Mar areas of Pismo Beach, TRAs 004-004, 004-006, 004-007, 004-016 and 004-018, also go without that levy and total 1.06421%. Pismo Beach parcels in the San Luis Coastal Unified areas run 1.10221% to 1.10621% because they carry a different school bond. If you're comparing two homes in these towns, the tax rate area number on the parcel is the thing to look up, more than the city name.
Same paved block, different share of the bond
K-14 is a general obligation bond. Voters approved it in November 2014, allowing up to $48 million for residential street repair, and the city has issued four series so far: $5 million in March 2015, $8 million in March 2016, $15 million in December 2017 and $10 million in January 2022. Each year the County Auditor-Controller sets the repayment rate per $100,000 of assessed value. It's based on how much debt is outstanding, the interest rates on it, and the city's total assessed valuation.
Every owner pays the same rate, and that rate is applied to each property's own assessed value. California's Proposition 13 generally ties a home's assessed value to its most recent purchase price. So a hypothetical illustration on the 2025-26 rate of $85 per $100,000 looks like this:
- A recent purchase assessed at $800,000: about $680 a year toward K-14.
- A long-held home on the same block assessed at $300,000: about $255 a year toward the same bond.
- The same $800,000 assessment at the city's estimated 2026-27 rate of $94.01: about $752 a year.
Both owners drive on the same resurfaced street. The newer owner's tax bill pays for more of it.
For a sense of where purchase prices sit right now, the California Association of Realtors' August 2026 report put San Luis Obispo County's median price for existing single-family homes at $955,000 in August 2026. That was up 2.1% from August 2025. Sales were down 16.7% year over year, and median time on market was 34 days. At that countywide median, the 2025-26 K-14 rate works out to roughly $812 a year.
Why the rate stayed below the ballot estimate
New purchases at higher assessed values don't only raise what those buyers pay. They also widen the base the bond is spread across, and that lowers the rate for every other owner in town.
When the city's financial advisor planned K-14 in 2013 and 2014, the model assumed assessed valuation would grow a conservative 2.5% a year. Actual growth has run far ahead of that: 5.21% in 2015-16, 6.37% in 2018-19, 6.46% in 2022-23 and 5.73% in 2025-26. The one dip was 3.20% in 2021-22. Citywide assessed value grew from about $1.47 billion to about $2.46 billion over that span. This is how the rate has moved:
| Fiscal year | K-14 rate per $100,000 of assessed value |
|---|---|
| 2015-16 | $24.00 |
| 2016-17 | $34.31 |
| 2017-18 | $51.35 |
| 2018-19 through 2021-22 | $85.00 |
| 2022-23 and 2023-24 | $95.00 |
| 2024-25 | $90.00 |
| 2025-26 | $85.00 |
| 2026-27 | $94.01, city estimate |
The city's March 23, 2026 staff report puts the average rate from 2015-16 through 2025-26 at $74.06. The Tax Rate Statement in the 2014 election materials estimated $77.66, and the report credits continued citywide growth in assessed value for the difference.
The 2026-27 figure is still an estimate. On May 26, 2026, the council voted unanimously for Resolution 26-16, which authorizes up to $5 million more in K-14 bonds. When we checked, the county's rate index still listed 2025-26 as its latest schedule, even though FY 2026-27 bills have been mailed. A buyer comparing parcels this fall should use the rate printed on the current bill, not the estimate.
What the levy bought, and what it was waiting on
The February 10, 2026 street repair update gives the scorecard. The city's overall Pavement Condition Index rose from 39 in 2014 to 69, against a target of 65. Streets rated poor or failed fell from 65% to 24%. K-14 residential streets alone score 73 and are projected to reach 80 when the program is finished. Nearly 320 blocks are done, which is more than 70% of the program, and staff now expect to finish by 2032 instead of the original 2040.
K-14 covers residential streets only. The arterials (4th Street, Oak Park Boulevard, El Camino Real, West Grand Avenue, Farroll Road and The Pike) are paid for from the General Fund, state gas tax money, regional transportation funds and grants. That's how the West Grand Avenue Streetscape between 4th and 8th Streets was built. It was finished in June 2025 with help from a $3.4 million SLOCOG grant and a $2 million General Fund allocation.
The street program also showed that the city's pipes and pavement are tied together. The next K-14 project covers sections of N. 9th, N. 11th and N. 12th Streets plus Brighton and Ramona Avenues. It sat on hold from 2024 because the sewer lines under those streets needed upgrades first, and the wastewater fund couldn't pay for them.
The fix was a new sewer rate. On June 9, 2025, the council adopted increases of 17.8% a year for five years, from FY 2025-26 through FY 2029-30. The study behind them found the rates adopted in 2021 couldn't cover aging and undersized infrastructure. For a single-family home, the city's monthly charge went from $12.82 to $15.10 on July 1, 2025 and to $17.79 on July 1, 2026. In the study's example, the total bimonthly bill, including the separate sanitation district charge, goes from $76.60 to $81.16 in 2025 and an estimated $86.54 for 2026-27. Even after those increases, the staff report expected Grover Beach's wastewater rates to stay among the lowest in the county. At the time, Arroyo Grande and Oceano were the only two agencies charging less, and both were reviewing their own rates.
The sequence played out as planned. According to the city's July 2026 update, a $3.6 million sewer main project was finished on North 9th, Ramona, North 8th, Rockaway, South 4th and Manhattan. K-14 paving started the week of June 29 on 12 blocks of North 9th, 11th and 12th Streets and Brighton and Ramona Avenues, without having to cut into new pavement later.
The one infrastructure cost that isn't priced yet
Grover Beach's future water supply has no cost estimate yet. The city gets all of its water from Lopez Lake and the groundwater basin. Its Long-Term Water Supply Study, presented as a draft on August 24, 2026, projects a shortfall of 15 acre-feet per year beginning in year three of a 30-year planning horizon. In drought conditions that could reach 471 acre-feet. Even with no population growth, drought-year gaps reach 229 acre-feet.
The study narrows the choices to three ways of adding roughly 200 to 350 acre-feet a year: buying water locally or regionally, buying from the State Water Project, or using recycled water for indirect potable reuse. Cost ranges and funding strategies will come in a final report due to the council in late 2026, with implementation starting in 2027.
Recycled water was once the regional plan. New Times San Luis Obispo reported in July 2024 that Grover Beach left the Central Coast Blue project on April 22, 2024. Project estimates had climbed from $93 million to between $134 million and $159 million, and Pismo Beach was left as the only participating agency. For a Grover Beach buyer, this is the cost to watch over the next year. Until the city picks one of the three options, it has no price.
A few direct questions
Does the K-14 levy end when the streets are finished? The city's reports describe a program of about 25 years. The bonds are repaid through the annual ad valorem levy the county sets each July. None of the city documents we reviewed gives a date when the levy ends.
Is every Grover Beach parcel at 1.15321%? Most are. TRA 005-001 was 1.14921% in 2025-26. The number that applies to a particular home is on its tax bill.
Are sewer increases already set for the next few years? The adopted schedule calls for 17.8% increases each year through FY 2029-30.
When we compare homes across the Five Cities, the tax rate area, the bond lines and the utility schedules go on the same page as the list price. If you'd like to see that comparison for a Grover Beach home you're considering, Concierge Realty will pull the current bill and walk through each line with you. Start Your Concierge Consultation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
