Dear Mr. Teshara:
Director of Government Relations
Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce
We are vacation home owners in South Lake Tahoe and are concerned about the proposed Vacancy Tax.
We would like more information on what the Chamber’s plan to oppose this initiative looks like, and how vacation property owner’s like ourselves can assist. We find the proposed initiative to be punitive and flawed. My wife recently personally witnessed an individual collecting signatures supporting the Vacancy Tax initiative to be placed on the November ballot at the Grocery Outlet Bargain Market on Lake Tahoe Boulevard. They were asking people to sign a petition for affordable housing which is a misrepresentation of what is being proposed.
Equally concerning is that people were signing the petition without reading it or further questioning what they were signing.
Those who oppose this measure need to organize a strong campaign challenging the misrepresentations those who are trying to get this initiative approved are using to trick people into supporting it. It seems the same tactics that were used to push Measure T through are again being employed. Everyone uses the phrase, “affordable housing” to get attention as it is such a debated issue these days. Measure T did nothing to fix the affordable housing issue and neither will the Vacancy Tax initiative. If anything Measure T made the situation worse and that is what the latest proposed initiative is set to do.
Reviewing Amelia Richmond’s explanation of the initiative she indicates it will include funds for road repairs among other things not related to affordable housing. The group “Locals for Affordable Housing” is taking the city of South Lake Tahoe down an undesirable path, the same one Measure T did.
We do not want anyone counting how many nights we sleep in our home or trying to force us to rent our home. Many people spend their entire careers commuting to a job in a location where they cannot afford to live. We know this because we both commuted over thirty miles to get to work. This is the USA not a socialist or communist country.
Many home owners who will be affected by this measure are not even aware of what is being proposed. We were not, until our neighbor casually mentioned it. We have since spent the better part of our current vacation researching it. Just about every vacation home owner we have spoken with over the last two weeks was not aware. Once we explained, they were as dismayed as they were appalled.
Please let us know what is being done to make sure this initiative never makes it onto the ballot and how we can assist in the effort.
Sincerely,
David and Barbara Skydel
Reprinted here with permission from the authors.