Novato, CA · Updated Oct 2026

What a Novato house pays

Property tax, water, trash and energy from public rates. Look up your address to make it yours, and see how to pay less.

Sent only to free public map services to find who serves it. Not stored unless you save your house.

Example · a Novato house

$19,091a year · $1,591 a month

Starts at the typical market value, $1,032,500; your assessed value is often lower. Typical use.

Property tax$11,171
1.089% of $1,032,500, less $7,000 homeowners' exemption
Flat charges on the tax bill$1,292
Sewer $760 · Novato Unified School District parcel tax $251 · Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority tax (Measure C, 2,000 sq ft house) $228 · Marin Emergency Radio Authority tax $29 · SF Bay Restoration Authority parcel tax (Measure AA) $12 · Marin/Sonoma mosquito & vector control assessment $12
Electricity and gas$3,705
500 kWh a month $2,726 · 31.72 therms $979
Water$1,043
9 units (CCF) a month on North Marin Water District: water $87 a month
Trash$388
32-gal garbage, $32 a month
Home insurance$1,492
Typical premium $1,492

A Novato house at the typical market value ($1,032,500) pays about $19,100 a year: $12,460 property tax and charges, $1,040 water, $390 trash, $3,710 electricity and gas, $1,490 home insurance. Estimated from public rates, not anyone's actual bill.

Rates checked Oct 22, 2026. Insurance: what you enter, or a typical premium until you do. Sources are listed at the bottom.

Ways to pay less

Nothing here applies to every house automatically. These are worth checking:

Switch to the 20-gal garbage cartUp to $145 a year
Your cart costs $32 a month; the smallest costs $20. Worth it if you rarely fill it.
How: Call your garbage hauler.
Low-income seniors 65+: wildfire tax exemptionMeasure C tax waived
Owners 65 or older in a single-family home whose household income is at or below HUD income limits can be exempted from the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority parcel tax. The application must be filed every year before June 30.
How: Apply through the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority's senior exemption page; status questions go to NBS at customercare@nbsgov.com or 1-(800) 676-7516.
Income-qualified households: PG&E CARE or FERA30–35% off electricity
CARE takes 30–35% off electricity and drops the base services charge to $6 a month; FERA takes 18% off for incomes slightly above the CARE limit.
How: Apply with PG&E; application forms are also available through community agencies.
Low-income households: Novato Sanitary District sewer discount15% or 10% off the sewer charge
Novato Sanitary District's Low-Income Sewer Rate Assistance Program gives eligible low-income single-family households a 15% discount in the low water use category and 10% in the average and high water use categories.
How: Apply through Novato Sanitary District's Low-Income Sewer Rate Assistance Program page.

Adjust to match your bills

What you knowTrash cartRates effective 1/1/2026. An additional 96-gallon compost cart (after 2) is $30.74 a cart; extra pickups are $9.91.

Value before exemptionsEnter your assessed (net) value from your tax bill: under Prop 13 it is often well below what the house would sell for. The wildfire tax is $0.1141 per square foot of building (shown for 2,000 sq ft). Novato bills can carry other flat lines (for example flood control or fire) that we could not tie to a published rate, so they are not counted here; check your bill.

I live here and have the Homeowners' exemptionSomeone on the title is 65 or older

Home insurance, a yearFrom your policy. We start at $1,492, California statewide average, NAIC data for 2022 as published by the Insurance Information Institute (California figures from the California Department of Insurance).

Earthquake insurance, a yearSeparate from home insurance. Most owners don't have it.

Your use

Water, units a month

On your water bill. 1 unit (CCF) is 748 gallons. A typical house uses 7–12.

Electricity, kWh a month

On your PG&E delivery with MCE Light Green generation bill. An electric car adds about 300 kWh.

Gas, therms a month (yearly average)

Money dates

Nov 1in 9 daysInstallment 1 of the property tax is due; it is delinquent after 5 p.m. December 10, with a 10% penalty.
Nov 30, 2026in 38 daysLast day of Marin County's 2026 assessment appeal filing period (opened July 2).
Feb 1in 101 daysInstallment 2 of the property tax is due; it is delinquent after 5 p.m. April 10, with an additional 10% penalty and a $20 fee.
Feb 15in 115 daysLast day for a first-time homeowners' exemption claim to get the full exemption for that year.

Who serves this house

Water: North Marin Water District; North Marin Water District rates effective 7/01/26 for Novato; the standard 5/8-inch meter pays a $65.60 bi-monthly service charge. Residential quantity charges per 1,000 gallons are $8.04 for the first 262 gallons per day, $10.29 up to 720 gpd and $15.22 above 720 gpd. The elevation zone charge per 1,000 gallons is $0.00 in Zone A (0 through 60 feet), $1.03 in Zone B and $2.85 in Zone C
Property tax: 1.09% of value; 2026-27 tax year, Marin County (Novato tax rate area 10-009)
Garbage: Recology Sonoma Marin; Novato's monthly refuse rates are listed by cart size on Recology's Novato rates page; recycling service is complimentary.
Sewer: Novato Sanitary District; Novato Sanitary District's residential sewer charge appears on the property tax bill each fall.
Electricity: MCE generation, PG&E delivery; MCE's service area includes all of Marin County; PG&E continues to provide electricity delivery and billing.
Gas: PG&E; Novato (94945, 94947, 94948, 94949, 94998) is in PG&E's gas service territory.

Pay or manage your bills

Other CA cities

How these numbers are made

Garbage: Recology Sonoma Marin's Novato monthly refuse rates effective 1/1/2026: $20.22 for 20 gallons, $32.31 for 32, $64.56 for 64 and $96.88 for 96. Recology's page does not say who bills or how often, and does not list a base compost rate, so those are not stated.
Water: North Marin Water District Regulation 54 (7/01/26), Novato service area, 5/8-inch meter: $65.60 bi-monthly service charge halved to $32.80 a month. Residential tiers are priced per 1,000 gallons per day of use; the page converts them to monthly CCF: 262 gpd is about 10.65 CCF a month and 720 gpd about 29.28 CCF, and $/1,000 gal is multiplied by 0.748 to get $/CCF ($8.04, $10.29, $15.22). The elevation zone charge is $0 in Zone A and is not added; homes higher up pay $1.03 or $2.85 per 1,000 gallons more. NMWD publishes no typical use that we found, so the page starts at its default.
Sewer: Novato Sanitary District's average-water-use charge for 2026-27 is $760 a year, collected on the property tax bill (about 87% of customers are in this tier).
Property tax: Novato spans tax rate areas 10-002 to 10-281. We use 10-009 (1.1184% in 2025-26), the most common total among Novato areas listed in the rate book; we could not count parcels by area. A few areas (10-002, 10-012, 10-023, 10-026) carry more bonds, such as Marin Healthcare and Tamalpais Union. 2026-27 rates used: 1% countywide, College of Marin bonds 0.0234% and Novato Unified bonds 0.0659%, 1.0893% in all, less the $7,000 homeowners' exemption. The 2025-26 total of 1.1184% is 0.0096% above the 1.1088% that the adopted 2025-26 bond rates for College of Marin and Novato Unified add up to; we could not open the rate book to see which other bond, if any, is in 10-009, so the 2026-27 stack here may be short by a similar amount (about $75 to $100 a year on the default home) and the page does not count it.
Flat charges: Novato Unified parcel tax $251, Marin Wildfire tax at $0.1141 per square foot ($228.20 for 2,000 sq ft), Marin Emergency Radio Authority $29, SF Bay Restoration $12 and mosquito and vector control $12. Other possible lines (flood control, fire, police) are not counted because we could not source a rate for Novato.
The starting value is the Census ACS 2020-2024 median market value of owner-occupied homes ($1,032,500); under Prop 13 an owner who bought years ago has a lower assessed value. Electricity and gas use the same MCE/PG&E build as other Marin cities: PG&E E-1 with MCE Light Green generation, territory X baseline (Novato is not in territory T), and PG&E G-1 plus public purpose surcharge. Insurance is the 2022 California average (NAIC via III). The 2022 insurance figure is the newest official one we found and is not adjusted for later years; a quote may differ. Electricity uses MCE's April 1, 2026 rates; MCE's November 1, 2026 change is not included.
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Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.

Sources

How Novato compares

A typical Novato house against the 110 California cities we cover, using the same default numbers as the total above.

Per year	Novato	Median	Where it falls
Property tax rate	1.09%	1.13%	lower than 90 of the other 109 California cities we cover
Water	$1,043	$955	higher than 70 of the other 109 California cities we cover
Trash	$388	$438	lower than 72 of the other 101 California cities we cover
Electricity and gas	$3,705	$3,556	higher than 77 of the other 109 California cities we cover
Home insurance	$1,492	$1,492	in the middle of 108 other California cities we cover
Total	$19,091	$15,240	higher than 88 of the other 109 California cities we cover

Cities bill differently (some put trash on the tax bill, some cover more services), so a higher number isn't necessarily worse. The property tax rate is compared instead of dollars because house values differ.

Questions to ask your candidates

Each one starts from a number above. Any candidate can answer them.

1. Property tax rate

The fact: Novato's property tax rate is 1.09%, lower than 90 of the other 109 California cities we cover. The rate adds up every agency on the bill, not only the city.

Ask: "Property tax in Novato is 1.09%, lower than 90 of the other 109 California cities we cover. What should that money pay for first, and would you change anything about how it is set?"

See who is running in your city →

Common questions about Novato house costs

What is the property tax rate in Novato?

About 1.09% of the value before exemptions a year (2026-27 tax year, Marin County (Novato tax rate area 10-009)), plus flat charges on the same bill (Sewer $760, Novato Unified School District parcel tax $251, Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority tax (Measure C, 2,000 sq ft house) $228, Marin Emergency Radio Authority tax $29).

How much is property tax on a $500,000 house in Novato?

About $6,662 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions with the homeowners' exemption, including $1,292 of flat charges.

How much is the water bill in Novato?

About $87 a month for water at typical use (9 units, or 6,732 gallons a month) on North Marin Water District.

How much does trash pickup cost in Novato?

$20 to $97 a month, depending on the trash cart size (20-gal garbage, 32-gal garbage, 64-gal garbage, 96-gal garbage).

When is property tax due in Novato?

Nov 1: Installment 1 of the property tax is due; it is delinquent after 5 p.m. December 10, with a 10% penalty. Feb 1: Installment 2 of the property tax is due; it is delinquent after 5 p.m. April 10, with an additional 10% penalty and a $20 fee.

Can seniors lower their property tax or bills in Novato?

Yes. Low-income seniors 65+: wildfire tax exemption: Owners 65 or older in a single-family home whose household income is at or below HUD income limits can be exempted from the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority parcel tax. The application must be filed every year before June 30.

Where can I get help paying utility bills in Novato?

Low-income seniors 65+: wildfire tax exemption: Owners 65 or older in a single-family home whose household income is at or below HUD income limits can be exempted from the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority parcel tax. The application must be filed every year before June 30. Apply through the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority's senior exemption page; status questions go to NBS at customercare@nbsgov.com or 1-(800) 676-7516.

How much does a house in Novato cost to run each year?

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