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11/8/2018 Oakland Voters Appear to Favor State's First Vacant Property Tax, Richmond Poised to Defeat Similar Measure | The California Report | … <br />https://www.kqed.org/news/11702378/oakland-voters-appear-to-favor-states-first-vacant-property-tax-richmond-poised-to-defeat-similar-measure 2/11 <br />The tax of up to $6,000 per year was on the ballot in both Oakland and <br />Richmond. <br />With 100 percent of precincts reporting — but with thousands of mail-in ballots <br />still to be counted — Oakland voters were poised to approve Measure W by <br />Wednesday morning. More than 68 percent of votes were in favor of the tax that <br />requires a two-thirds majority to pass. <br />The balance of Richmond voters approved that city's identical Measure T, but <br />with 100 percent of precincts reporting, the measure appeared to fall about 8 <br />percent short of the supermajority it needs to pass. Similarly, thousands of mail- <br />in ballots remain to be counted. <br />The proposed taxes target the owners of residential, <br />commercial and industrial private properties that are in use <br />fewer than 50 days per year, with some exemptions. <br />If the results hold, Oakland will next need to come up with <br />a more specific definition of "vacant property" before 2020, <br />the earliest the tax could be implemented. <br />This kind of tax that has not been tried in California before. <br />But proponents point to levies in cities such as Vancouver, <br />British Columbia, and Washington, D.C., as examples of <br />efforts to make properties more productive while raising <br />funds for city services. <br />SPONSORED BY