SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Owners of vacation homes in Northern California’s South Lake Tahoe region could face a significant tax increase if voters in the mountain resort town approve a potholing measure on Tuesday’s ballot. affordable housing It is against private property rights.

Located on the shores of the iconic mountain lake, South Lake Tahoe has nearly 7,000 vacant homes, according to the 2022 American Community Survey; that’s 44% of the city’s estimated housing units. Measure N would impose a flat tax $3,000 tax In houses that remain vacant for 182 days in a calendar year.

The tax will increase to $6,000 for each year the home remains vacant for half the year.

Town latest in the United States There is a growing debate regarding the impact of holiday properties. Critics say vacant second homes are worsening the nation’s housing crisis by contributing to a shortage of affordable rental properties, especially in expensive resorts like South Lake Tahoe.

supporters Participants in the measure say they want to encourage homeowners to rent to workers or pay into a fund for housing, roads and transportation projects. They say it’s a city families falling apart while businesses struggle to find staff in an area where little land is available for housing development.

Kelly Bessem works multiple jobs at least 50 hours a week as a hydrology and land management scientist and snowboard instructor. He’s currently sleeping in his car while trying to buy a house in Markleeville, a 40-minute drive from South Lake Tahoe.

“I did everything I had to do, but I can still just walk by,” Bessem said.

Nancy Dunn, a homeowner who has lived part-time in South Lake Tahoe since 2018 opposes It was stated that the measure was unfair and un-American.

“This is my home, and I want to be able to come back there whenever I want and come and go as I please,” Dunn said earlier this month as he filled his home with firewood. “The American way is to have the right to own property and use it as you wish.”

The California Association of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors contributed a combined $1 million to defeat the measure in a town with only 12,000 registered voters.

While still rare in the U.S., more places are considering taxes on vacant homes, or vacant homes, to address the workforce’s housing shortage by leveraging underutilized homes to expand the long-term rental market.

in hawaiiHonolulu City Council is trying to pass a vacant home tax, Third attempt since 2018The Colorado Ski Town Association is seeking legislation that would allow cities and counties to ask voters to approve vacant home taxes.

Margaret Bowes, managing director of the Colorado group, said: There are very few options in resorts where they can build. He said the housing shortage had “reached crisis levels” affecting essential services and commerce, from ski resort companies to local small businesses.

Perhaps the best-known example is Vancouver, Canada, which in 2017 imposed a 1% tax on the taxable value of a vacant home. The tax is currently 3% and the city says it has generated $142 million in revenue for affordable housing projects.

In California, San Francisco and Berkeley have approved taxes on vacant properties in 2022.

Vacancy taxes may work to a limited extent in big cities, but an empty home tax could make a big difference in smaller towns like South Lake Tahoe, said Shane Phillips, who runs the business. Randall Lewis Housing Initiative at the University of California at Los Angeles.

He didn’t know enough about the proposed tax, but he generally supports vacancy taxes on vacation homes in areas with a housing shortage. He said taxes could be used to deter harmful behavior, such as taxes on cigarettes.

“And I think there’s a similar argument that could be made here, which is that people are multiplexing and not living in those homes in communities like South Lake Tahoe…it’s actually hurting other people,” Phillips said.

Measure N has wreaked havoc on the small community, which, with about 21,000 year-round residents, is the most populous city around Lake Tahoe and a popular weekend destination. It is 188 miles (300 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco.

The city’s median household income is $68,000, below the California average of $95,000. The median sales price of a home was $750,000 in September, according to Redfin; five years ago that figure was $427,000.

Designed after Berkeley’s model empty house taxcity ​​proposed tax Raise up to 8 million dollars up to $20 million per year in its first year and thereafter.

This is an opportunity to ensure South Lake Tahoe doesn’t go the way of other mountain towns with higher vacancy rates, said Amelia Richmond, co-founder of the group Locals for Affordable Housing, which gathered signatures to put the issue to a vote. .

Property owners will prepare their own reports each year, although documentation may be required. There are exceptions to the occupancy requirement, such as when homes are undergoing renovations.

To avoid taxes, vacation home owners may sell their property, rent it to a year-round tenant, or rent it to seasonal travelers or workers. They can’t list their homes as short-term rentals after the city voted to reduce rentals of less than 30 days due to noise and housing shortages.

Opponents say many are scraping by and saving for modest second homes and should not be penalized for the area’s lack of affordable housing. They are also upset that, as part-time residents, they won’t be able to vote on the measure.

Tom Fields, 85, splits his time between a three-bedroom house that he says is nothing special other than its location on the shores of Lake Tahoe and a place in central Oregon.

“This is crazy, and I don’t even know if it’s constitutional,” he said. “When you buy the land, their rights start to be taken away from them, and that’s when people get upset.”

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Har reported from San Francisco.