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Orange to Consider Vacant Unit Tax on 5/12 @ 6:00 PM

Date postedMay 1, 2026
Posted By: Chip Ahlswede Legislative Affairs, Advocacy Updates,

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

  • 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 uninhabited unit that is going through the eviction process.
  • A tax on a property that you aren't living in while you are caring for a loved one.
  • A tax on a property you own while you are travelling for work.
  • A tax on a property that is uninhabited after a family member passes away.

That is what the city will consider requesting a city staff report on to place on the November ballot.

The city council will be making that recommendation at the May 12th City Council meeting at 6:00 PM.

There is a similar effort underway in San Diego - being backed by city employee unions and their PACs - and aimed directly at your 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 a little more into Measure A by clicking HERE.

A similar proposal was shot down in South Lake Tahoe in 2024 with Measure N that would have taxed property owners $3,000 - $6,000 per unit - an 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 a proposal in 2023 that would have taxed vacant properties that ended up being rejected by a 2/3 majority after narrowly failing a required 2/3 in favor vote just a few years prior. Measure U in Adelanto would have hit vacant property with exorbitant taxes - fortunately it failed.

However that isn't to say these initiatives haven't had their successes - 

  • OAKLAND passed Measure W that taxes vacant units - and purportedly that is what Orange is using as a model to write their initiative off of - READ ABOUT IT HERE - but the real problems exist in the details, which you can read HERE.
  • BERKELEY imposes a tax on properties vacant for more than half the year - but it doesn't need to be consecutively vacant - just comprehensively - so hopefully you don't travel for work.
  • SAN FRANCISCO's proposal - Measure M - was passed by the voters in 2022 haulted by a judge in 2024, and awaits its day in court. If it is allowed to move forward it would tax property owners $10-20K 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 chooses to implement, Orange isn't and shouldn't strive to be Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco, or Vancouver.

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

Join us TUESDAY MAY 12 @ 6:00 PM

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

And tell this council to VOTE NO on the Proposed Vacant Unit Tax.

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

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