{"id":8649699,"date":"2022-10-31T16:08:46","date_gmt":"2022-10-31T23:08:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/?p=8649699&preview=true&preview_id=8649699"},"modified":"2022-11-01T13:09:06","modified_gmt":"2022-11-01T20:09:06","slug":"editorial-berkeleys-vacancy-tax-is-a-proposal-in-search-of-a-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/2022\/10\/31\/editorial-berkeleys-vacancy-tax-is-a-proposal-in-search-of-a-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Editorial: Berkeley’s vacancy tax is a solution in search of a problem"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Click here<\/a> for a complete list of our election recommendations. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Berkeley\u2019s proposed tax on empty homes is premised on the idea that landlords are holding their units off the market to try to force up rents. The problem is that there\u2019s no data to support that.<\/p>\n

Measure M on the Nov. 8 ballot would tax housing units that are vacant for 182 days in a year to pressure landlords to rent out the homes. In a city with a low vacancy rate, this measure is a solution in search of a problem. Voters should reject the measure.<\/p>\n

The tax would be $3,000 the first year and $6,000 for subsequent years for units in duplexes, condominiums, single-family homes and townhouses. For all other units, the tax would be $6,000 the first year and $12,000 in subsequent years.<\/p>\n

The measure contains a list of exemptions, such as homes under construction and owners who use the property as their primary residences. City officials estimate that, after those exemptions, there are 1,100 rental units that would be affected.<\/p>\n

Using those numbers and assuming landlords, when faced with the prospect of fines, would place some of the units back on the market, Berkeley officials estimate the city would collect between $3.9 million and $5.9 million annually for the general fund.<\/p>\n

But the purpose of this measure should not be generating new tax revenues, it should be increasing the housing supply. Given that, it\u2019s disappointing that backers of the measure did not put more effort into understanding why those empty housing units are not being rented out. Rather than a stick, what might be called for here is a carrot in the form of assistance to landlords who cannot afford necessary repairs.<\/p>\n

Only five of the nine<\/a> council members voted to put Measure M on the ballot, which by itself says something about how shaky the concept is. Among the many arguments, backers suggested that property owners might be holding older units vacant to drive up rents in newly constructed buildings. That intuitively makes no sense.<\/p>\n

The underlying implication of Measure M is that there are too many vacant units in the city. Actually, Berkeley and the rest of the Bay Area\u2019s problem is not that the housing vacancy rate is too high, it\u2019s that it\u2019s too low.<\/p>\n

As a newly released draft<\/a> of Berkeley\u2019s Housing Element update points out, \u201cA certain number of vacancies in a community is necessary to moderate housing costs, provide some level of choice for households seeking housing, and provide incentive to keep units in decent condition.\u201d<\/p>\n

It turns out that the proportion of units for sale and units for rent are lower in Berkeley than in Alameda County and the Bay Area. That said, council backers of Measure M deserve credit for only targeting homes that have been sitting off the market for months.<\/p>\n

But if they really wanted to help solve Berkeley\u2019s and the region\u2019s housing crisis, they would speed up the city’s slow approval of new construction. That’s the real culprit — and Measure M does nothing to address it.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

City’s voters should reject Measure M; City Council should focus on speeding up slow housing-approval process,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":878,"featured_media":8649700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"subheadline":"City's voters should reject Measure M; City Council should focus on speeding up slow housing-approval process","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[167,51704,10111,163],"tags":[52566,477,10602,10049,49650,9823],"feature":[],"location":[8,3,12,2,4],"type-of-work":[51231],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"post_status":"","edit_last":0,"edit_lock":0,"highlights":"","original_byline":"","original_canonical":"","original_category":"","original_email":"","original_id":0,"original_pubdate":"","original_source":"","primary_section":"51704","primary_tag":52566,"print_workflow_body":"","print_workflow_exported_ts":"","print_workflow_exported_username":"","print_workflow_shapes":"","print_workflow_side":"","really_short_title":"","short_title":"","market_neutral_title":"","social_title":"","dfm_hub_post_id":0,"paywall_level":"metered","featured_media_content":{"content_type":"image","content":{"id":8649700,"title":"SJM-L-ALACOUNTY-XXXX-10-1","filename":"SJM-L-ALACOUNTY-XXXX-10-1.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/SJM-L-ALACOUNTY-XXXX-10-1.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/2022\/10\/31\/editorial-berkeleys-vacancy-tax-is-a-proposal-in-search-of-a-problem\/sjm-l-alacounty-xxxx-10-1-4\/","alt":"","author":"878","description":"","caption":"BERKELEY, CA – AUGUST 18: Berkeley City Hall is photographed on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020, in Berkeley, Calif. 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