South Lake Tahoe Voters Block Measure to Tax Vacant Homes

Homeowners would have faced taxes of up to $6,000 per year for houses left unoccupied for more than six months.

Visitors hike through D.L. Bliss State Park at Lake Tahoe near South Lake Tahoe, Calif., on July 22, 2014. Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Voters in the mountain resort town of South Lake Tahoe in Northern California voted overwhelmingly to reject a proposal to tax owners of vacant homes.

Measure N, which sought to impose taxes on owners of homes that remain vacant for more than six months a year, failed by a margin of more than 1,800 votes out of about 8,300 cast, according to El Dorado County election data.