The Municipal Council of East Palo Alto has placed Measure L on the November 8, 2022 ballot for voter consideration, which is intended to help fund general government uses and community priorities such as housing.
Measure L provides for programs that help pay rent for needy tenants; affordable and accessible housing programs; protect local tenants and landlords from displacement and homelessness.
Residential rents in the East Palo Alto area have increased substantially, transferring income from tenants to landlords, most of whom live outside of East Palo Alto.
Measure L would update the business tax approved by voters in 2016, increasing the business tax rate on certain residential rentals and expanding its applicability.
This tax does not apply to accessory or second-home units, rented rooms in dwellings, or low-income housing. In addition, the law provides an exemption for hardship of payment.
This tax cannot be charged to tenants.
The ballot that voters will receive for the midterm elections on November 8 will include a text in English and Spanish with the following information, to which voters can only answer with a yes or no:
«To fund general uses of government, such as affordable housing programs, providing rental assistance to tenants, and protecting local residents from eviction and homelessness, shall the City of East Palo Alto’s current business tax of 1.5% of gross receipts on property owners with five or more rental residential units, which cannot be passed through to tenants, be set at 2.5% of gross receipts for all rental residential units until repealed by the voters or reduced by the Council, raising approximately $1,480,000 annually?»
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