The “Mind Boggling” Flaw in a Canadian Vacancy Tax Repeated in South Tahoe’s Measure N 

Vacancy Tax proponents claim that “Vacancy taxes are effective and proven to work.” At best, they didn’t do their homework. At work, they’re not telling the truth.

It doesn’t take long to find examples such as this one from the Vancouver region of Canada, whose “Vacancy Tax” use the same system as Measure N in South Lake Tahoe. Under this system, every resident is presumed to be in violation of the “vacant homes” law, and you have to file with the government every year proving you lived in your home or rented it out.

It doesn’t take long to find examples such as this one from the Vancouver region of Canada, whose “Vacancy Tax” uses a system in which every resident is presumed to be in violation of the “vacant homes” law, and you have to file with the government every year proving you lived in your home or rented it out.

Measure N in South Lake Tahoe uses the same exact system.

Constituents in Vancouver found the forms “burdensome” and “confusing” and a huge invasion of privacy. The cost to establish and maintain the system was for more excessive than anyone anticiapted and the program raised less funds than promised.

But surely the “Vacancy Tax” in Vancouver has helped with housing affordability, you might ask? Not even close! In the last five years, the median house price in Vancounver is up 50%, and average rents are up over 35%

Measure N in South Lake Tahoe repeats these same mistakes. It’s costly and burdensome to enforce. It’s a huge invasion of privacy. And it doesn’t help with housing affordability.

Vote No on Measure N!