4/22/2022 – Signature Turn In Update
Yesterday we turned in over 6000 signatures to the Santa Cruz City Clerk crushing our 5000 signature goal. The community really showed up BIG; all neighborhoods, all ages, property owners and renters. THANK YOU to our over 149 signature gathers and all the other volunteers who made this phase of our community-driven campaign a success. The City Clerk completed the Prima Facie count on April 21st confirming the total number of signatures. The signatures have been transferred to the County Clerk’s Office as of yesterday to complete the signature verification which will include matching the signatures to the registered voter roll for the City of Santa Cruz.
The County Clerk has 30 working days (Saturdays, Sundays and holidays excluded) to certify results to the City Council which will be completed by June 3rd. If the County and City Clerk deems the petition pages to have a sufficient number of valid signatures to qualify to be placed on a ballot she determines a specified date and places an item on a City Council agenda for action, which will likely be for the June 14th Santa Cruz City Council meeting.
In addition to the 30 working day allowance, the calendar will also include no less than 10 days to prepare, submit to the City Manager for approval, and add as an agenda item to a specified City Council meeting, a staff report that will be posted publicly no less than 5 days in advance of the meeting for City Council to take action on certification of the results of the petition. The City Council has three options to exercise at its meeting where the City Clerk Administrator/Elections Official will present his/her findings that an initiative petition is sufficient:
If City Council ordered a report that report must be presented publicly at a City Council meeting no later than 30 days after the report is ordered. Due to the summer break of City Council during July if they choose to order a report they would have to have the report presented at the June 28th meeting or call a special meeting in July to comply within the 30 day action requirement. After the report is presented the City Council must call the election for the ordinance or adopt the ordinance without alteration (§9215). If they call the election, which is the result we expect, that would place the Empty Home Tax on the November 8th, 2022 General Election Ballot.
1/30/2022 – January News Brief
We are in the thick of the community-driven effort to get Empty Home Tax on the ballot. Taxing empty homes that are not occupied for at least 120 days is a simple part of the solution to increase affordable housing in Santa Cruz. If you believe people should be able to live where they work, and Santa Cruz should be a place for all of us we need you to take action now. We will not make it on the ballot without your help.
We need to collect 5000 signatures by April 20th. We are pulling out all the stops in February a lot of amazing events planned as well as the opportunity to get set up with a clipboard and collect signatures from your friends and family that are registered at their current address in the city of Santa Cruz. You can see all the events planned on our calendar click this link to sign up for a shift here.
Be sure to check out these events and come out and support Empty Home Tax.
Transit Equity Day – Feb 4 from 2-6pm
The BIG Canvass – Feb 6 from 11-5pm
Petition Signing Dance Party – Feb 12 from 1-4pm
12/29/2021 – End of Year Newsletter
We hope the winter and holiday season has been happy and healthy for you and your loved ones. We are reaching out to update you on the Empty Home Tax Campaign and highlight opportunities for you to take action to ensure we get on the ballot and fund affordable housing in the City of Santa Cruz.
As we have said before, this is a people powered campaign and it is going to take a BIG push over the next three months to make sure we are successful. Like you, we know and love this community and want to make sure Santa Cruz is a place for all of us!
As you can see from the list above there is a ground swell of momentum building for this straightforward effort to meet our communities call out for affordable housing. We definitely need to grow our efforts to ensure we have the valid signatures we need by the end of March 2022. Here is how you can help→
We look forward to seeing in the New Year and building the Santa Cruz we want together!
Thanks and we hope to see you soon!
The Empty Home Tax Tea89
Yes on Empty Home Tax Santa Cruz**FPPC# 1438739**info@emptyhometax.org**831-200–3878