City of San Francisco Transfer Tax on Residential Property Re-Sold in Five Years, Proposition G (November 2014)

Voting on taxes
Ballot measures
By state
By year
Not on ballot
Local City taxes County taxes School taxes Property taxes Sales taxes Income taxes Other taxes

A City of San Francisco Transfer Tax on Residential Property Re-Sold in Five Years, Proposition G ballot question was on the November 4, 2014 election ballot for voters in the city of San Francisco, California. It was defeated.

Proposition G imposed an additional tax on the sale or transfer of multi-unit property that has been owned for less than five years. Details about the tax are in the San Francisco Ballot Simplification digest.

Election results

City of San Francisco, Proposition G
Result		Votes	Percentage
d No		117,887	53.91%
Yes		100,776	46.09%

Election results via: City and County of San Francisco Registrar of Voters

Text of measure

Ballot Simplification

The San Francisco Ballot Simplification Committee provided the following digest for Proposition G:

“	THE WAY IT IS NOW: The City collects a transfer tax on sales of most real property in San Francisco. The tax rate depends on the sale price of the property. The lowest tax rate is 0.5%, for property sold for $250,000 or less. The highest tax rate is 2.5%, for property sold for $10,000,000 or more. The tax rate is not affected by how long a property is owned. THE PROPOSAL: Proposition G would impose an additional tax on the total sale price of certain multi-unit residential properties that are sold within five years of purchase or transfer. The following table shows the tax rates that would apply: Length of Time Seller Has Owned Property - Tax Rate: Less than one year - 24 percent One to two years - 22 percent Two to three years - 20 percent Three to four years - 18 percent Four to five years - 14 percent This additional tax would apply to sales occurring on or after January 1, 2015. This additional tax would not apply in the following circumstances: The property is a single-family house or condominium and does not include an in-law unit; An owner of the property, including a tenancy-in-common unit, has used it as a primary residence for at least one year immediately before the sale; The property contains more than 30 separate residential units; The property is sold for an amount equal to or less than what the seller paid for the property; The property is sold within one year of a property owner’s death; The property is legally restricted to low- and middle-income households; The property is newly built housing; The property meets the following criteria: it contains no more than two dwelling units; the seller applied on or before July 1, 2014, for a building permit for a project with a total construction cost of $500,000 or more; and the last permit was issued no more than a year before the sale of the property; or The sale of the property is exempt from the existing transfer tax. This measure would also authorize the Board of Supervisors to create additional exemptions from both the existing transfer tax and this proposed additional tax for properties that are subject to affordability-based restrictions. A “YES” VOTE MEANS: If you vote "yes," you want the City to impose an additional tax of between 14% and 24% on the total sale price of certain multi-unit residential properties that are sold within five years of purchase or transfer, subject to certain exceptions. A “NO” VOTE MEANS: If you vote “no,” you do not want the City to impose this additional tax. (quote)	”
—San Francisco Ballot Simplification Committee

Full text

The full text of the ordinance that would have been enacted by the approval of Proposition G is available here.

See also

• City tax on the ballot
• Local property tax on the ballot
• San Francisco City and County, California ballot measures
• November 4, 2014 ballot measures in California

External links

Suggest a link

• San Francisco Elections Office website