PROPOSED VACANT COMMERCIAL
PROPERTY TAX UPDATE
City Council Environmental and Legislative Committee
February 3, 2025
Item 3.2
Purpose
• Unmaintained vacant commercial buildings:
• contribute to blight
• are an attractive nuisance
• are a risk to public health
• Many commercial property owners are not Stockton residents • Encourage investment
• Maintenance
• Development
• Sale
• Tax revenue could be used for blight removal
How will this benefit the City?
• Oakland (2019)
• Washington D.C. (2011)
• Considering:
• Sacramento
• Los Angeles
• Santa Cruz
• Richmond
Has this been done in other places?
• Ballot measure – 2026
• Special tax – 2/3rds vote (over 90k votes)
• Cost – approximately $600K
• Additional costs:
• Consultant(s) – Administrative Services Department is working on drafting a Request for Proposals.
• Mailings
• Total estimated cost for implementation $1.1M General Fund What are the steps for implementation?