SAN DIEGO, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) — The San Diego City Council will soon decide whether to advance a tax measure targeting homes that sit vacant for most of the year.

The proposal has faced pushback, but a scaled-down version is now one step away from being placed on the June primary ballot.

“Why not ask out-of-state investors and corporate property owners to pay their fair share?” said Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera, who proposed the tax.

While the City Council is set to vote Tuesday afternoon, public advocate Shane Harris and some local real estate representatives are urging council members to reject the measure.

“I call on the City Council to say ‘no,’ say ‘no’ to this measure,” Harris said.

Under the proposal, residential properties that sit vacant for 183 days or more in a calendar year would be taxed $8,000, with an additional $4,000 surcharge for corporations.

Those amounts would rise to $10,000 and $5,000, respectively, in the tax’s second year if voters approve the measure.

“There are 5,100 homes that San Diego residents could be living in that they’re not,” Elo-Rivera said. “We want to encourage folks to make those available. They can rent them or sell them.”

Jason Lopez of the California Association of Realtors criticized the plan, saying it “creates a guilty-until-proven-innocent framework where homeowners are going to have to prove they occupy their property or face a stiff tax.”

While the stated intention is to move vacant units back onto the long-term housing market, revenue generated from the tax would also boost the city’s general fund.

“Housing policy produces homes. A revenue policy produces more taxes,” said Richard D’Ascoli, CEO of the Pacific Southwest Association of Realtors.

City officials estimate the tax could generate between $12 million and $23 million in 2027 if approved by voters. As San Diego faces an approximately $100 million budget gap, Elo-Rivera said the revenue could support anything from road repairs to affordable housing initiatives.

“Hard-working middle-class residents who are trying to find their place in this city do not deserve to be used to fill a deficit hole they had nothing to do with creating,” Harris said.

Elo-Rivera said the tax would not target typical landlords or service members.

“Do you know anyone wealthy enough to have a second, third or fourth home in San Diego that is not used?” he said. “We are not talking about mom-and-pop landlords who are renting homes out. Those are excluded. We are talking about people who own empty homes in San Diego and can let them sit and accumulate value while the rest of us are simply trying to get by.”

The City Council is scheduled to meet on Tuesday at 2 p.m. to vote on whether to place the home vacancy tax on the June primary ballot for voters to decide.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.