Vacant and Vacancy Tax Spreading?

[drssg]

Taxation without representation?

By definition a vacation cabin/home is not a residence so the owners are excluding from participating in voting issues and in a place like Tahoe it means major decisions are effectively made by a few.

It kind of reminds me of renting a car at an airport. There were significant extra taxes, beyond the normal sales tax. These taxes pass easily, because the voters aren't the ones that pay the tax.

There was an old Monty Python joke where they were doing a "man on the street" interview.

"I think we should tax all foreigners living abroad."

 

[plowhog]

You get what you vote for...

Sometimes it feels like I get what they voted for ....

 

[tacticalturnip]

We don't own **** anyhow; try not paying your property taxes.

 

[ultrarunner]

You get what you vote for...

That's the point... by law a person that owns property is limited to voting only in the district of residence.

So if you own grazing land in the next county or a cabin in a distant place no vote there is possible.

 

[bcp]

Bruce

 

[ponytug]

As this is California, I would not underestimate the effect of Prop 13 freezing property taxes has on the ability of local governments to raise revenue.

 

[ultrarunner]

Prop 13 sets the statewide property tax at 1% of value with annual inflation increase capped at 2%

Voters can and do approve parcel taxes... 55% approval for new schools and 2/3 voter approval for all the other parcel taxes... such as libraries, youth services, several Oakland School measures, street lights, police, fire, wet weather, mosquitoes, vector control, etc...

Last I checked the voters have been very generous with 24+ approved parcel taxes... heck... I'm still paying both the city and county portions to fund the stadium expansion for the Raiders... and the Raiders are long gone and now the A's and the Warriors left too...

I would hate to imagine what things would be like if taxes didn't require voter approval.

Living in the city my tax rate is easily 50% higher than the same value home in the county... and county offers better services!

 

[not2old]

It's here too. Not all areas are included but it's making things a problem for some people. Here it includes banning short term rentals in some areas that encourage tourism. Kelowna B.C. has some buildings that were specifically built as short term rentals, with the proper zoning, permits, and licenses where the suite owners are now being told by the provincial government that they cannot be used for short term rentals. We may have a revolution here if things continue.

 

[ultrarunner]

Banning short term is often defined as less than 6 months is how I see it starting.

In tourist areas businesses often notice business is down because if someone is going to stay a week or two the private licensed and inspected and taxed rentals are what many choose.

Mandating a mountain cabin be occupied minimum of 6 months annually and saying you may never rent for a period of less than 6 months is a clear taking and infringement on the right to own property.

How is it authorities can demand this of private property but cannot ban transient camps?

Maybe no money in going after transients?

 

[Jstpssng]

Maybe no money in going after transients?

Ding ding, ding! We have a winner!!!

 

[D&D]

Isn’t that what happened in the movie Dr Zhivago?

Homes allocated by the state?

Soon there will be no where to go…

Some of the least stressed people I know are on Section 8… it’s like being retired and having all your needs met…

No worries about the roof over your head, filing tax returns, food on the table, health insurance, discounted or free utilities, cell phones, computers, property insurance, school tuition, etc.

Guess people fail to realize hollyweird productions and reality don’t share a whole lot. Taxing me and mine out of existence does nothing to ensure your future. It merel pushes a larger burden onto a smaller populace.
Reality? Do the baby boomers have too much wealth? Do they really have to share what they’ve inherited/earned?

 

[plowhog]

I would hate to imagine what things would be like if taxes didn't require voter approval.

Do you know what process was used to begin the vacant parcel tax?

Does the money collected to a specific budget, or just into the general fund?

 

[dodge man]

I saw another proposal introduced in San Francisco. Grocery stores would have to give six months notice before closing and the fact they are losing money isn’t an excuse to close. Before they close they have to meet with the local community, post notices etc. How in the world can you force a business to stay open that is going broke?

 

[2manyrocks]

If the grocery store is a chain that has an overall profitable operation from stores elsewhere, they are counting on that profit to absorb the cost of staying open 6 months.

If the grocery is a mom/pop operation that doesn't have the cash flow, that's a different situation. It would really be awful if the rules imposed fines on mom and pops that had to close because they didn't have the finances to stay open.

There was a local independent grocery that closed because their refrigeration equipment failed, and they decided it wasn't worth the cost of replacing it in order to stay in business. One of the long term grocers in the area had already closed up after Walmart opened a grocery department, and he had predicted it would drive the least profitable grocer out of business.

The problem with a proposal like that is grocers can go out of business for a variety of reasons, and they aren't all chains that can absorb the cost.

 

[MossRoad]

Canada has had it too.

Vacant Home Tax

Toronto’s Vacant Home Tax (VHT) requires homeowners to declare their property as vacant or occupied each year. This initiative encourages property owners to rent or sell unused homes to increase housing supply, with taxes on vacant properties supporting affordable housing programs.

www.toronto.ca

I think that's just Toronto city, no?

 

[plowhog]

It would really be awful if the rules imposed fines on mom and pops that had to close because they didn't have the finances to stay open.

Hmmm ... a return of debtor's prison?

Debtors' prison - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[dmccarty]

Ireland has had housing shortages for centuries. I read a few years ago that the cost of housings was up to 60% due to taxes and complying with regulations. The government has made changes to reduce that expense but I don't know how much that has really been reduced.

Six or so years ago, I read there was talk by some Irish political parties to force elderly people from their homes since they no longer needed all of the space they had in their homes. Basically, the elderly people were not using all of their bedrooms, so kick the people out of their homes they had lived in for decades, force them out of their neighborhoods, have them loose their friends and community, so the house could be given to younger people. We had a taxi driver bring this up and he supported this idea. Unreal. He thought his mother should leave her house so he and his family could have a bigger place to stay and closer to the center of Dublin.

I believe some Irish jurisdictions have implemented taxes on vacant land and buildings to try to generate housing. Course, part of the problem is that the cost to fix the buildings up to code or build on the land is beyond the reach of the owner which forces the owner to sell.

To make the housing shortage worse, there are thousands of homes that have been built with defective cement blocks that fall apart when wet. There really is no fix other than to tear down the homes and rebuild. Then there is the large number of migrants that have arrived in the last few years taking up even more space and money.

 

[ultrarunner]

Do you know what process was used to begin the vacant parcel tax?

Does the money collected to a specific budget, or just into the general fund?

It depends but Tahoe is based on collecting signatures and the funds are suppose to help house that are housing challenged.

Others arrive via city council...

 

[ultrarunner]

I think that's just Toronto city, no?

The Underused Housing Tax is an annual federal 1% tax on the ownership of vacant or underused housing in Canada that took effect on January 1, 2022. The tax generally applies to foreign national owners of housing in Canada

 

[MossRoad]

The Underused Housing Tax is an annual federal 1% tax on the ownership of vacant or underused housing in Canada that took effect on January 1, 2022. The tax generally applies to foreign national owners of housing in Canada

Ouch!