UPDATE: As the deadline approaches for proponents to file petitions with the City Clerk, in order to expedite processing signature withdrawal cards, we’re asking all further withdrawal requests be sent directly to the City Clerk. Please find attached an updated card.

If you’re speaking with someone and they express regret for signing the Vacancy Tax ballot initiative because they truly didn’t understand what it meant, they still have the legal right to Rescind their Signature from the petition. A form is attached that they may use to do so. It must have a wet signature, include the name and address that was put on the petition, and it must be either hand delivered or mailed to the City Clerk. There is some urgency to this, as proponents could submit their petitions to the City Clerk at any time, and once they do, previous petition signers will no longer be able to rescind.

Proponents continue to go door to door to gather signatures in addition to requesting signatures in public places. As of last week, they e 350 signatures shy of qualifying.  It’s helpful to continue talking about this and debunking misleading information.

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TALKING POINTS

Were you lured into signing the Vacancy Tax petition with the promise that it’s “for affordable housing?” While it ‘could be’ – it likely won’t be. Please read on.

THE WRONG SOLUTION

Housing affordability is a serious concern for South Lake Tahoe, but the proposed residential Vacancy Tax won’t do anything meaningful to help address this challenge for our community. On many levels, it will do a lot more harm than good.

LITTLE TO NO NEW HOUSING SUPPLY

A Vacancy Tax won’t increase the housing supply since existing homeowners won’t make their homes available to rent for six months at a time while preserving some time to use their own property. Similarly, renters typically don’t want to rent for just six months or a partial year and then have to move. Proponents claims that this will make more housing available are obviously false.

THE CITY HAS A TRACK RECORD OF NOT DELIVERING ON PROMISES

For those homes subject to the potential tax, there is no guarantee in the measure that a future City Council would use any of the money collected, estimated at $34 million, to develop affordable housing. The City does not have the best track record of spending money for purposes promised to voters. It is often easier to make promises than to keep them.

A DROP IN THE BUCKET FOR AFFORABLE HOUSING

Even if the tax were to work as its proponents claim, little if any affordable housing would actually be constructed, certainly in any timely manner. The fact is that developing affordable housing at Lake Tahoe remains a complex, expensive and time-consuming process. Land costs are high, and the environmental requirements are a huge barrier. Even projects like Sugar Pine Village, which we supported and for which the land was donated, took years before it could be developed. Our Coalition and most South Tahoe residents support more affordable housing here, but the proponents “pie in the sky” promises just can’t believed.

COSTS TO ADMINISTER AND DEFEND A VACANCY TAX COULD ABSORB MOST, IF NOT ALL OF THE FUNDING COLLECTED

The ballot initiative highlights the costly bureaucracy the City would need to initiate and continually investigate who is subject to the tax, and to enforce and collect the tax. The City will likely also incur significant legal defense costs as, if it should be approved by City voters, the measure is expected to be litigated. These administrative and legal defense costs will be paid by the City (and taxpayers) and will be the first call on tax revenue collected. This will be a financial drain on the City as well as reduce any revenue for potential affordable housing. 

THE TAX IS UNFAIR AS DESIGNED

The proposed Vacancy Tax is unfair to many members of our community. It treats all second homes/vacation homes the same, whether it be a small condo, a home that a middle-class family scrimped and saved for years to afford, or a larger home rarely used. Fundamentally, at its core, it is taxation without representation.

Information provided by the South Tahoe Association of REALTORS®