South Lake Tahoe Voters Block Measure to Tax Vacant Homes

Voters in the mountain resort town of South Lake Tahoe in Northern California voted overwhelmingly to reject a proposal to tax owners of vacant homes. Measure N, which sought to impose taxes on owners of homes that remain vacant for more than six months a year, failed by a margin of more than 1,800 votes out of about 8,300 cast, according to El Dorado County election data. The proposal aimed to levy vacancy taxes of $3,000 for the first year and then $6,000 annually for homes empty for more than 182 days in a year. If it had been approved, homeowners would have had to self-report occupancy status by filling out an affidavit declaring whether they had lived in the house long enough during the year to qualify for an exemption....