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Orange City Council to Consider Vacant Property Tax

Date postedMay 8, 2026
Posted By: Chip Ahlswede Legislative Affairs, Advocacy Updates,

Imagine paying a tax to the city because you have a vacant rental unit or property.

  • A tax on a property that isn't producing income.
  • A tax on a unit your are trying to refurbish.
  • A tax on a unit that is going through a turnover between tenants.
  • A tax on an unoccupied unit during the eviction process.
  • A tax on a property that you aren't presently living in while you care for a loved one.
  • A tax on a property that you own, while you are traveling for an extended period of time for work.
  • A tax on a property that is unoccupied after a family member passes away.

That is what the Orange City Council will consider at its meeting on Tuesday, May 12th at 6:00 PM, and possibly seek to place on the November ballot.

To read the staff report, click here.

There is a similar effort underway in the San Diego - being backed by city employee unions and their PACs - and aimed directly at property owners' pocketbooks. Measure A will be on the June Ballot and is looking to impose between $8,000 and $10,000 on any vacant homes. You can read more about Measure A by clicking HERE.

A similar proposal was defeated in South Lake Tahoe in 2024 where Measure N would have taxed property owners between $3,000 and $6,000 per unit - and would have affected anyone who wasn't in the unit at least 3 days a week. Voters rejected that proposal by a decent margin.

Adelanto had Measure U in 2023 that would have taxed vacant properties. Voters rejected it by a convincing 2/3 majority, after narrowly failing a required 2/3 vote to pass an earlier measure just a few years prior. Vacant property owners would have been hit with exorbitant taxes. Fortunately it failed.

However, vacancy tax initiatives have also had their share of successes: 

  • OAKLAND voters passed Measure W - a vacant unit tax that is purportedly what Orange is using as a model upon which to draft its postential initiative - READ ABOUT IT HERE - but the real problems exist in the details, which you can read HERE.
  • BERKELEY imposes a tax on properties that are vacant for more than half the year - not consecutively but cumulatively - so hopefully you don't travel for work.
  • SAN FRANCISCO voters passed Measure M in 2022, but it was halted by a judge in 2024, and awaits its day in court. If it is allowed to be implemented it would tax property owners between $10,000 and $20,000 a year.
  • VANCOUVER is the city that seems to have started this craze - and is pointed to as a wonderful example for cities to follow - except Vancouver has the least affordable housing in all of Canada.

Regardless of which of these models the city might explore and pursue, Orange isn't and shouldn't strive to be like Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco, or Vancouver.

WE NEED YOU TO SHOW UP AND TELL THE COUNCIL TO REJECT THIS PROPOSED TAX!

Join AAOC and make your voice heard on TUESDAY, MAY 12th @ 6:00 PM

Orange City Council Chambers
300 E. Chapman Ave.
Orange, CA 92866

Tell the city council to OPPOSE any Proposed Vacant Unit Tax.

You can also contact the council individually by calling (714) 744-2211 or emailing them at their addresses below:

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