SAN DIEGO (CNS) - San Diego voters will decide Tuesday whether to approve a tax on homes that are unoccupied for more than half the year.
Measure A, dubbed the "Non-Primary Homes Tax," will impose taxes on residential properties within the city that are vacant for more than 182 days per year. The measure would impose an initial annual tax of $8,000 in 2027, then $10,000 in subsequent years.
The San Diego City Council voted 8-1 to place the measure on this year's ballot.
Proponents argue the measure will help address the city's housing shortage by bringing those vacant homes back into the market and generating funds to support housing and other city services, while opponents say the tax raises a host of questions regarding how its revenues will be used, its enforcement, and its legality.
Councilman Sean Elo-Rivera, who proposed the ballot measure, said it applies to around 5,100 residences or around 1% of San Diego homes.
At a recent news conference supporting Measure A, Elo-Rivera said the measure will "encourage the absentee owners and investors to either rent those homes out or sell them to San Diegans, or contribute to our General Fund so that we can keep day centers open, fund eviction prevention, keep libraries open, park staff, and build affordable housing."
Measure A's supporters argue the largely unoccupied homes have been hoarded by corporations and wealthy investors, reducing the housing supply for working-class San Diegans.
The measure includes a number of exemptions, including those who own homes that are unoccupied due to military deployments, the owner's death within a two-year period, or owners who are in a medical care facility.
"Measure A won't fix this year's budget, but it makes sure we're not having the same painful conversation again and again and again, and we're doing that by asking those who have the most to pay their fair share," Elo-Rivera said.
But opponents say the money generated by the tax won't go specifically toward new housing and that similar measures in other cities had little to no measurable effects on housing construction or costs.
Even if approved, opponents say the measure won't be able to withstand a legal challenge, as a similar tax in San Francisco -- which targeted vacant apartment units -- was ruled unconstitutional by a judge.
Raul Campillo, the lone councilmember to oppose Measure A, said the San Diego City Attorney's Office was not able to articulate whether Measure A could avoid similar litigation.
Campillo said at a news conference opposing the measure that those litigation fees would be paid by taxpayers, while none of the measure's financial benefits would be seen while it remains in legal limbo.
"There is significant legal risk here by putting this before the voters and having them approve it, only to be mired in litigation," Campillo said.
Opponents say there is additional uncertainty regarding how the measure will be enforced and that the costs incurred by the city unit tasked with tracking and collecting the tax will end up consuming much of the taxes on their own.
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