SAN DIEGO, Calif. (FOX 5\/KUSI) \u2014 The San Diego City Council will soon decide whether to advance a tax measure targeting homes that sit vacant for most of the year.<\/p>\n
The proposal has faced pushback, but a scaled-down version is now one step away from being placed on the June primary ballot.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy not ask out-of-state investors and corporate property owners to pay their fair share?\u201d said Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera, who proposed the tax.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI call on the City Council to say \u2018no,\u2019 say \u2018no\u2019 to this measure,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Those amounts would rise to $10,000 and $5,000, respectively, in the tax\u2019s second year if voters approve the measure.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are 5,100 homes that San Diego residents could be living in that they\u2019re not,\u201d Elo-Rivera said. \u201cWe want to encourage folks to make those available. They can rent them or sell them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason Lopez of the California Association of Realtors criticized the plan, saying it \u201ccreates a guilty-until-proven-innocent framework where homeowners are going to have to prove they occupy their property or face a stiff tax.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2019s general fund.<\/p>\n
\u201cHousing policy produces homes. A revenue policy produces more taxes,\u201d said Richard D\u2019Ascoli, CEO of the Pacific Southwest Association of Realtors.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cHard-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,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n
Elo-Rivera said the tax would not target typical landlords or service members.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know anyone wealthy enough to have a second, third or fourth home in San Diego that is not used?\u201d he said. \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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