Measure N: South Lake Tahoe residents in November could tax owners of infrequently used homes
South Lake Tahoe residents face a choice on their November ballot that could change the identity of the popular vacation community: Should the city tax the owners of houses and apartments that are unoccupied most of the year?
That would happen if a majority of voters pass Measure N . Some homeowners would have to pay $6,000, or more, a year if they only plan to use their properties occasionally in the future.
Long a playground for Northern Californians in the summer and winter, South Lake Tahoe is filled with homes that were purchased or inherited by people who live most of the year elsewhere.
The U.S. Census Bureau in 2022 estimated the city had more than 6,180 houses, apartments or other units that were only used occasionally. That was a 14% increase from a decade earlier.
Proponents of the vacancy tax , who gathered enough signatures to place it on the ballot, want the money it generates to be used to help build more housing.
What would happen if the measure passes?
The new tax would go into effect in 2026. Owners of apartments and houses would need to file annual paperwork with the city declaring that their properties are either vacant or not vacant.
A home will be considered vacant if it is not occupied by a person for more than 182 days, consecutively or not, in a year.
If that's the case, the city would impose a $3,000 penalty, per unit, on its owner for the first year.
The tax would increase to $6,000 annually in subsequent years if the homes remain mostly unused — a cost that could grow in the future because there is no cap and it is tied to inflation.
A city consultant estimated the penalty could eventually generate more than $10 million a year. The measure says the money can be used for housing, road work, transit and the cost of managing the tax.
Measure N also requires the city to come up with a way to check if properties are occupied as much as owners say they are.
What supporters of Measure N say
Amelia Richmond, who co-founded Locals for Affordable Housing, the group pushing for the proposal, argues there is already a cost for having so many sparingly-used homes: Many people who work, and grew up, in the city struggle to find affordable places to live.
"For young people in the community," she said, "they don't have a shot."
The vacancy tax, Richmond argues, will provide an incentive for people to use their homes more often while also creating a new funding source to help build more housing.
"The time to act is now while we've got a chance."
What opponents of Measure N say
The proposal has sparked an angry reaction from many of South Lake Tahoe's residents and frequent visitors.
Steve Teshara, the director of government relations for Tahoe Chamber, a business group, called Measure N: "the most insidious attack on private property rights and ownership."
And it has attracted the interest of the national and California Realtors associations, which have contributed more than $900,000 combined to a committee trying to defeat the measure.
Campaign materials note that while Measure N is largely billed as an affordable housing initiative, there is no requirement for how much money will go to such projects.
Opponents also warn it will create a costly new city bureaucracy, call it a major invasion of privacy, and say it is unfair to tax people who won't be able to vote on the measure because they primarily live elsewhere.
