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San Francisco recently did a similar thing but with commercial storefronts: https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Vacancy-glut-in-SF-could-spur-tax-on-em

San Francisco recently did a similar thing but with commercial storefronts: https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Vacancy-glut-in-SF-could-spur-tax-on-empty-13554017.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Vacancy-glut-in....

jdreyfuss 8y ago
That is just a proposal, right? Did it pass? Last I heard, London Breed was looking at other avenues to tackle the problem (reducing bureaucracy, expanding multi-use space allowances, etc.)
- cgb223 8y ago
  What has she done so far to help improve the housing situation in SF? It’s hard to find information about that
  - jdreyfuss 8y ago
    This is specifically about commercial vacancies. According to this article from the SF Chronicle[1], her approach to addressing commercial vacancies mirrors her housing strategy, but I'm not sure what's actually been implemented so far for either situation. [1] https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/With-SF-s-retail-storefronts-empty-mayor-13452833.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/With-SF-s-retai...
Scoundreller 8y ago
And Toronto got rid of their vacant commercial & industrial property rebate. I think they didn’t go far enough. https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/property-taxes-utilities/property-tax/property-tax-rebates-and-relief-programs/vacancy-rebate-program/ https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/property-taxes-util...
tareqak 8y ago
The city of Vancouver has the Empty Homes Tax. Quote from [0]: Each year, one owner of residential property in Vancouver is required to submit a property status declaration to determine if their property is subject to the tax. Properties deemed empty will be subject to a tax of 1% of the property’s 2018 assessed taxable value. Most homes will not be subject to the tax, as it does not apply to principal residences or homes rented for at least six months of the year; however, all homeowners are required to submit a declaration. Net revenues from the Empty Homes Tax will be reinvested into affordable housing initiatives. End quote [0] https://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/empty-homes-tax.aspx https://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/empty-homes-t...
- phamilton 8y ago
  What's property tax in Vancouver? Is this essentially a doubling of property tax? (1% is a fairly common property tax amount)
  - echlebek 8y ago
    Much, much less than 1%. The low tax rate has been cited as one of the reasons for housing market inflation.
  - smnrchrds 8y ago
    In general, municipalities are not allowed to run a deficit in Canada. Since high taxes which would result in having a surplus are politically unpopular, usually municipalities get just enough tax to fund their programs. That is when they are writing their annual budget, they define their total expenditure E, the total assessed value of all properties within their municipality V, and set the tax rate for the year by dividing E/V [1]. Because of how inflated the values of homes in Vancouver are, V is huge. So E/V is much smaller than the rest of the country. In 2018, the tax rate for residential properties was 0.246826% [2]. A 1% surtax would more than quintuple the amount of taxes owed. [1] It's a bit more complicated than that. Residential and commercial properties have different tax rates for example. But not too much more complicated. Municipalities are not allowed to charge sales or income taxes like they do in some other countries. [2] https://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/residential.aspx https://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/residential.a...
trimbo 8y ago
No, this did not pass. All that has passed is that you need to "register" your vacant storefront or be fined for _not registering_. https://hoodline.com/2019/03/board-of-supervisors-passes-legislation-to-register-vacant-storefronts-citywide https://hoodline.com/2019/03/board-of-supervisors-passes-leg...

jdreyfuss 8y ago

That is just a proposal, right? Did it pass? Last I heard, London Breed was looking at other avenues to tackle the problem (reducing bureaucracy, expanding multi-use space allowances, etc.)

cgb223 8y ago
What has she done so far to help improve the housing situation in SF? It’s hard to find information about that
- jdreyfuss 8y ago
  This is specifically about commercial vacancies. According to this article from the SF Chronicle[1], her approach to addressing commercial vacancies mirrors her housing strategy, but I'm not sure what's actually been implemented so far for either situation. [1] https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/With-SF-s-retail-storefronts-empty-mayor-13452833.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/With-SF-s-retai...

Scoundreller 8y ago

And Toronto got rid of their vacant commercial & industrial property rebate. I think they didn’t go far enough. https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/property-taxes-utilities/property-tax/property-tax-rebates-and-relief-programs/vacancy-rebate-program/ https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/property-taxes-util...

tareqak 8y ago

The city of Vancouver has the Empty Homes Tax. Quote from [0]: Each year, one owner of residential property in Vancouver is required to submit a property status declaration to determine if their property is subject to the tax. Properties deemed empty will be subject to a tax of 1% of the property’s 2018 assessed taxable value. Most homes will not be subject to the tax, as it does not apply to principal residences or homes rented for at least six months of the year; however, all homeowners are required to submit a declaration. Net revenues from the Empty Homes Tax will be reinvested into affordable housing initiatives. End quote [0] https://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/empty-homes-tax.aspx https://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/empty-homes-t...

phamilton 8y ago
What's property tax in Vancouver? Is this essentially a doubling of property tax? (1% is a fairly common property tax amount)
- echlebek 8y ago
  Much, much less than 1%. The low tax rate has been cited as one of the reasons for housing market inflation.
- smnrchrds 8y ago
  In general, municipalities are not allowed to run a deficit in Canada. Since high taxes which would result in having a surplus are politically unpopular, usually municipalities get just enough tax to fund their programs. That is when they are writing their annual budget, they define their total expenditure E, the total assessed value of all properties within their municipality V, and set the tax rate for the year by dividing E/V [1]. Because of how inflated the values of homes in Vancouver are, V is huge. So E/V is much smaller than the rest of the country. In 2018, the tax rate for residential properties was 0.246826% [2]. A 1% surtax would more than quintuple the amount of taxes owed. [1] It's a bit more complicated than that. Residential and commercial properties have different tax rates for example. But not too much more complicated. Municipalities are not allowed to charge sales or income taxes like they do in some other countries. [2] https://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/residential.aspx https://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/residential.a...

trimbo 8y ago

No, this did not pass. All that has passed is that you need to "register" your vacant storefront or be fined for _not registering_. https://hoodline.com/2019/03/board-of-supervisors-passes-legislation-to-register-vacant-storefronts-citywide https://hoodline.com/2019/03/board-of-supervisors-passes-leg...