California voters consider vacation homes tax in Lake Tahoe area

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, California: South Lake Tahoe voters will soon decide on a controversial proposal to tax owners of vacation homes that sit empty for at least half the year, raising issues around affordable housing and property rights in the resort town.

With 7,000 homes-44 percent of the area's housing units-remaining vacant for much of the year, Measure N proposes a US$3,000 annual tax on vacation homes unused