Berkeley gets 6-8 million a year for housing and preventing homelessness from an increased property transfer tax on sales over 1.5 million. San Jose is planning a similar ballot measure.
Alex Lee 李天明 @alex_lee
20 Nov 2019
Now if only all our Bay Area cities had a real property transfer tax for houses valued over $2 mil, we’d have a lot more $$$ to fund affordable housing 🤔
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Even with the increased transfer tax, Berkeley's top tax rate on the sale of a used mansion is 2.5%. Meanwhile the tax rate on a used book or shirt is 9.75%. 🤔
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Why should we be beggars with the ballot in our hand?
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Measure P passed with 72% of the vote (it needed 50+1). We could probably have won an even higher tax rate - That same year the city polled the public on several different sizes of affordable housing bonds and found that the percent supporting was the same for all sizes of taxes
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Transfer taxes are not ideally structured. Inhibits sales. Should ideally be % of gains rather than a raw transfer tax.
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Replying to @kimmaicutler @alfred_twu @TribTowerViews
Also if the taxes have graduated rates they should be marginal rates rather than having discontinuities.

Nov 20, 2019 · 5:43 PM UTC