The South Lake Tahoe Vacancy Tax will hurt renters too

[No Tahoe Vacancy Tax]

The Vacancy Tax will hurt renters too.

If you are a renter, read this. The Vacancy Tax proponents are out there lying about how the Vacancy Tax will help you.

The proponents of the South Lake Tahoe (SLT) Vacancy Tax tout that there are 7,150 vacant houses. But, when you look deeper, they are cherry-picking, distorting the truth, and over-estimating the expected revenue of the Vacancy Tax. The truth is, most of these homes aren't really vacant. 

𝟭) 𝗦𝗡𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗬 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗦

  • The VT folks focus on the big number – 7,150 vacant homes. Lies!

  • 𝟲% 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁, but not getting takers 

  • 𝟴𝟲% 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆, by families, or leases. These aren't empty!

  • 𝗢𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝟲% 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝘃𝗮𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘁 (sold unoccupied, or other vacant)

See the data for yourself at: B25004 | Vacancy Status

𝟮) 𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗨𝗘

The Vacancy Tax proponents claim $34 million to be collected annually. How did they come up with this number? Who knows? They just throw this number out without explaining. In the best case scenario, suppose every single one of those supposed 7,150 vacant houses paid $3,000 in one year. That's only $21 million.  But, the true number is actually way lower. It's probably closer to only a few millions, given that only 6% of the houses are truly vacant.

𝟯) 𝗜𝗡𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦

The Vacancy Tax proponents say that if only 20% of the supposed 7,150 vacant homes become available, the housing crisis would be resolved. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁, 𝗶𝗳 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲. But it's a gross overestimation. When you look at the raw data, only 6% of those 7,150 are truly vacant.

𝟰) 𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗟𝗢𝗦𝗘

6% of the supposed 7,150 vacant houses are actually already in the rental market. The units are available.  Why are they not being rented? Is it too expensive? Could be ... that's expected. Tahoe is prime real estate.  The Vacancy Tax proponents assume the rent will go down on those units. They want to use the tax as a form of misguided rent control. They want the landlord to lower the rent, or 𝗽𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 of the Vacancy Tax. But that's not what's going to happen. Landlords stuck with the Vacancy Tax will try anything to avoid it and hedge their risks. They will:

  • 𝗝𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘂𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝘅. They will keep the Vacancy Tax deposits for up to 5 years (in case they are audited).

  • 𝗗𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴-𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺 𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀. These cater to tourists, not you, the nurse, the handyman, the cop, or firefighter who needs a stable home.

  • 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿. Wealthy folks who can afford the Vacancy Tax will scoop them up, leaving even fewer rentals available.

𝟱) 𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗢𝗖𝗖𝗨𝗣𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗬

86% of the supposed vacant houses are seasonally occupied. They are not empty! Let's dive deeper into these groups.

  • 𝗪𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝟮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲-𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀: First, you have the wealthy who will be able to afford the Vacancy Tax. These folks won't bat an eye. Their houses won't magically go into the rental market.

  • 𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲-𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀: Second, you have those who can't afford the Vacancy Tax. They will either find ways around it, or exit the market all-together by selling. And, once again, who do you think is going to buy those newly available sought-after houses? It won't be the renters. It will be the wealthy who can afford them, and also won't care about the Vacancy Tax. So in the end, the housing supply it's still not better. 

  • 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗸𝗶 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀: These houses are legitimately not vacant. They are being used/rented seasonally.  They are already exempt from Vacancy Tax (used for at least 182 days per year). So, no Vacancy Tax money will be collected from these.

  • 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲-𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀: These will be the other real victims of this misguided Vacancy Tax. There will be horror stories of people being audited, and fighting to prove to the SLT City Manager that they actually resided as required. It is already happening in other places like Vancouver. People are having to 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘄𝗲𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗽𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝘂𝗽𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 to the City that they actually lived in their own houses! (see welcome_to_the_van_empty_homes_tax_audit_2022 ). There will also be others who for some reason can't stay in Tahoe in the winter, or travel a lot, can't shovel snow, and many others in similar situation, who now will be forced out.

𝗩𝗼𝘁𝗲 🗳️🚫𝗡𝗢 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗟𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝗵𝗼𝗲 𝗩𝗮𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗧𝗮𝘅!

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𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗱:

https://www.notahoevacancytax.com

https://stopthesouthtahoevacancytax.com