Finance & Management Committee
September 24, 2024
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Jestin D. Johnson FROM: Erin Roseman
City Administrator Director of Finance
SUBJECT: Vacant Property Tax Statistics DATE: August 26, 2024
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Receive An Informational Report Regarding The Trends In the Number Of Properties Deemed Vacant And Subject To The Vacant Property Tax And The Statistics Of Assessed Properties By City Council District.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
During the July 9, 2024 Finance & Management Committee meeting, Councilmember Ramachandran requested for responses related to the trends in the number of properties deemed vacant and therefore subject to the Vacant Property Tax (“VPT”) and the breakdown of assessed properties by City Council District.
STAFF RESPONSES
Question 1: Why was there an increase in the number of properties that were assessed the tax for 2022 Tax Year compared to downward trend established in prior years? Following the passage of the 2018 Measure W, the Vacant Property Tax Act, and subsequent public outreach campaigns, including holding three town-hall style meetings, to gather public comments on the implementation of the Measure W in the spring of 2019, staff received overwhelming feedback and comments from attendees, emails, letters and phone calls that the research and identification of likely vacant properties ought to be implemented instead of requiring a property status declaration on the part of property owners in the City.
Since then, staff has utilized variety of data sources, including utility usage, business tax databases, planning and building permits, code enforcement complaints, aerial maps, and online data sources to identify the likely vacant properties. This approach, however, is not foolproof and “likely” vacant properties are identified. As a result, the number of assessed properties fluctuates year over yearThe fluctuation in the number of assessed properties year over year can be attributed to the following key actions and events:
Jestin Johnson (Sep 12, 2024 18:30 PDT)
Sep 12, 2024
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Vacant Property Tax Statistics
Date: August 26, 2024 Page 2
Finance & Management Committee
September 24, 2024
• 2020: The pandemic of 2020 caused an increase in the number of “financial hardship” and “demonstrable hardship” exemption requests. Note that demonstrable hardships are unrelated to the owner’s personal finances, as authorized under Oakland Municipal Code Section 4.56.090.”
• 2021: The Alameda County of Board of Supervisors adopted a Resolution R-2020-507 increasing the threshold for low value property tax exemption in Alameda County from $2,000 to $10,000. This action resulted in the removal of 139 properties that were slated to be assessed the Vacant Property Tax for the calendar year 2021 and thereafter. • 2022: The increase in the number of assessed properties for this year was a result of staff experience learned from the first three years of implementation of VPT and additional examination of data points, parcel and aerial maps, which led to an increase in the number of properties being deemed vacant.
• 2023: The examination of data points utilized for 2022 was further analyzed and enhanced to determine the likelihood of occupancy, as in “in use,” for at least 50 days in the calendar year of 2023. This action resulted into a total of 1,851 properties that were recently forwarded to the office of the Alameda County Auditor-Controller to be included in the Fiscal Year 2024-25 Secured Property Tax bill. The latest assessment represents an increase of 299 properties when compared to 2022 tax year.
Request 1: Please provide the breakdown of assessed properties by the Council District.
Council
District
Tax Year
Total
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
1 297 298 101 137 159 992
2 119 129 101 128 187 664
3 250 259 225 264 344 1,342
4 412 403 404 484 523 2,226
5 125 129 80 104 111 549
6 243 193 211 245 293 1,185
7 256 236 162 190 234 1,078
Total 1,702 1,647 1,284 1,552 1,851 8,036
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Vacant Property Tax Statistics
Date: August 26, 2024 Page 3
Finance & Management Committee
September 24, 2024
Erin Roseman (Sep 12, 2024 12:21 PDT)
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Receive An Informational Report Regarding The Trends In The Number Of Properties Deemed Vacant And Subject To The Vacant Property Tax And The Statistics Of Assessed Properties By City Council District.
For questions regarding this report, please contact Rogers Agaba, Assistant Revenue & Tax Administrator, at (510) 238-7009.
Respectfully submitted,
ERIN ROSEMAN
Director of Finance
Finance Department
Reviewed by:
Rogers Agaba, Assistant Revenue & Tax
Administrator
Prepared by:
Carmen Q. Mac, Revenue Operations
Supervisor