"Every single person who lives in South Lake Tahoe will have to file this form not just second homeowners not just renters everyone." "To some filling out a form is an violation of privacy." Hear SLT City Councilmember Cristi Creegan say those and other things that I think are debatable in this interview conducted by Ari Zucker. [Transcript w time codes below]
Below is the transcript, AI generated [so imperfect] :
Music]
0:09
AZ: what Adventures make you feel most alive
adventure
comes in all forms we are grateful to all of you who live and share the spirit
of adventure together let's Elevate the world okay here we go Hello everybody
welcome back to another amazing episode of everything from A to Z I am your host Ari Zucker and today I have with me Cristi Creegan who is uh one of our city council members and we wanted to talk about uh something very important that I know lays very heavy on a lot of our hearts here in South Lake Tahoe which is the vacancy tax so what we wanted to do is to better inform everyone so we can make great decisions when it comes time for voting since the vacancy tax is onthe ballot so Christy hi welcome hithe Line so this is why we're here today….
1:24
so
um I think first and foremost for a lot of people the vacancy tax sounds so scary
to a certain degrees you know if I were just to ask you what is exactly the vacancy
tax and why is it on the ballot that's a great place to start
CC:
so I'll start by saying that the vacancy tax itis is a Citizens initiative I'm
a city council member it is not something that's being put forth by the city in
fact our city council considered advancing it to the ballot ourselves and voted
not to uh last fall um because we didn't feel like it was the right direction
to go for our community
1:59
however
a group of citizens got enough signatures to put it on the ballot because we
have that process in California. so having said that what what this vacancy tax
does is it taxes it taxes residences in which people are not present for more
than 183 days so something really important about this that one of the things
that we're going to do today is try and make things really clear because there
is a lot of misinformation and a lot of is- every single person who lives in
South Lake Tahoe will have to file this form not just second homeowners not
just renters everyone. so we both live here and full
2:45
time
and we will both have to fill out this form and submit it to the city to prove
that we have been here if we cannot prove that we have been here for that
amount of time Year One you will pay $3,000 tax in year two the tax is raised
to$6,000 and then going forward it's also increased by the CPI the Consumer
Price Index which is a variable number um so that is the way that the group
that wrote the vacancy tax has structured it.
AZ:
so if you're here if you're gone one and this has been a question too if you're
gone say you're um you know live half time half the time in Florida and half
the time here you're retired you've worked really hard to get your home uh and
now you come in at 180 days are you still going to pay that tax
CC: yeah the T yes the the way the proponents wrote
the vacancy tax um ordinance is there are a few exceptions I think it's for I
don't know exactly what they are um but for the most part if you cannot prove
that you've been here the correct amount of time you will be paying the tax
AZ:
interesting so as I and and I've been reading along as well and some of the
things that come up on the I'd like to say that I lie in the middle a little
bit but I'm a full-time resident um and
I should actually backtrack a little bit and say the fact
4:24
that
we also have to fill out and prove because we're full-time residents here and
which means everybody I would imagine whoever wrote this up has to do too um
Probably sounds
CC:
oh it's easy just fill it out it's not a big deal but to some it feels like a
violation of privacy and that's I've heard that a lot too um and the form is
not developed yet what it will look like so we can't speak to that um I think
that the the invasion of privacy piece I've definitely heard a lot because it's
it's really no one else's business where you go and where you are
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5:00
for
I just want to give a short example
5:02
which
is my neighbor is 84 and she lives
5:05
Alone
um and for the past two years
5:07
she's
been spending an increasing amount
5:09
of
time with her kids who live away and
5:13
it
breaks my heart to think that she
5:14
would
have to make those decisions about
5:17
where
to be in the winter because she
5:19
has
a hard time shoveling now based on
5:22
this
rather than on her own personal
5:24
needs
so every time I think about this
5:26
vacancy
tax I think of her absolutely
5:29
and
and I also you know when you think
5:32
about
the second time owners you've got
5:34
those
who just barely make money to have
5:37
their
second home and then you have
5:39
those
that probably have an
5:40
extraordinary
amount of money and those
5:42
big
homes sit what's interesting is okay
5:45
so
so there's around 7,000 homes that
5:48
are
vacant I think that's a an
5:50
interesting
word to use um because to me
5:53
vacant
means somebody doesn't own it or
5:56
the
bank Own It owns it or it's been
5:57
sitting
around doing nothing you know um
6:00
but
it is someone's home their things
6:01
are
in it um so when they do come to
6:04
visit
everything's there right that's
6:06
why
you have a second home but to and I
6:09
think
the idea is to rent to uh
6:13
employees
here which I I more than
6:16
anything
appreciate the everyone who
6:19
comes
to work here to make a living to
6:21
live
here um the bartenders to the
6:24
janitors
at my daughter's school here
6:27
and
I I do appreciate it but I I'm
6:29
trying
to understand how someone with a
6:32
very
large home will rent out to someone
6:35
who
you know who works here so they're
6:38
going
to have to drop the price down and
6:40
this
is just my logic please correct me
6:41
if
I'm wrong they're gonna have to drop
6:43
the
price down to rent it out uh and
6:46
then
there's the possibility of because
6:48
it's
such a thing now is squatters so
6:50
you
never know what nobody wants to rent
6:53
right
now because nobody we're so
6:55
uncertain
about unfortunately one or two
6:59
or
a small group of people have made it
7:01
tough
for everybody right uh so what so
7:04
how
is that logic work out that is a
7:07
great
question and I think that the the
7:09
the
place that I would start by
7:10
answering
that is to say
7:13
that
every
7:16
single
um every single homeowner has a
7:18
different
situation so it's not fair to
7:20
characterize
there's all these big
7:22
mansions
sitting around the people live
7:23
in
the Bay Area and they can pay for it
7:25
nor
is it correct to say these are all
7:27
fourth
generation you know people who
7:29
struggled
all their lives and they
7:31
finally
were able to buy the second home
7:33
it's
just all different there's all
7:35
different
stories um so you so really
7:38
you
can't generalize and what this tax
7:41
proposal
is really generalizes everybody
7:45
yeah
and that is I take issue with that
7:48
um
just right away but I think you're
7:49
right
so in that example someone someone
7:53
bought
a house here and their mortgage
7:54
is
7:56
$4,000
but and so they want $4,000
8:00
exactly
and maybe the house is not even
8:02
worth
$44,000 and so we're definitely
8:03
seeing
a softening of the market that's
8:05
something
that's happening where those
8:06
people
are can't get $4,000 yeah so it
8:09
does
have to go
8:11
down
but in that instance it's still
8:15
going
to be more than necessarily people
8:17
can
afford yes that's just the truth of
8:21
math
so do we think that this is a I
8:24
know
we were talking you know before we
8:26
started
um filming this podcast
8:30
asked
is this a nationwide thing or just
8:32
a
South Lake Tahoe thing right yeah
8:35
that's
a great question too and I mean
8:37
I've
lived here for 27 years and one
8:40
thing
that is great about Tahoe is that
8:42
we
think we're very unique yes um but in
8:45
this
instance as in many other ones as
8:47
we
were talking about people want to
8:49
live
where it's beautiful people want to
8:51
live
in Paris people want to live in
8:53
Barcelona
people want to live in Bale so
8:55
those
places are more impacted um and I
8:58
want
to say that um and you referred to
9:00
it
with who who these affordable housing
9:03
goals
efforts are to benefit and when
9:07
when
our Council last year first started
9:10
talking
about all of the affordable
9:12
housing
things that that we are doing it
9:14
was
really to promote a Vibrant
9:17
Community
that had people at all levels
9:20
in
it people just starting out people
9:23
who
are at you know a mid level in their
9:25
career
people who are at a high level
9:27
people
who are retired it so we really
9:29
wanted
to make space for people who
9:32
weren't
earning as much and so that
9:35
effort
toward a Vibrant Community is the
9:38
ultimate
goal and in order to do that
9:40
you
have to have a spectrum of housing
9:42
that
suits everyone absolutely so that
9:45
leads
me to there are options here and
9:48
I'm
not sure if if people who do work
9:52
here
who do come in to work or want to
9:53
live
in like Tahoe and need more
9:55
affordable
housing there are some
9:57
options
right so where are some of those
10:00
options
because I know we were as we
10:02
were
you know um talking earlier it's it
10:05
I
I go wow I didn't know those were
10:07
available
I didn't know I could you know
10:09
sign
up for that and and where can
10:11
someone
find out where where they can
10:14
find
affordable housing here that's such
10:15
a
good question because the city has a
10:18
very
robust housing department and they
10:22
keep
a list of all of the affordable
10:25
units
in the community they keep a
10:27
waiting
list that people can get on to
10:29
get
openings in those um the most
10:32
impacted
waiting list is for seniors and
10:34
those
with disabilities those have the
10:37
longest
waiting lists and so there's I
10:39
don't
know how many units there are that
10:41
are
existing but coming up there's more
10:43
than
500 housing units that are going to
10:46
come
online in the next five years and
10:48
you
probably know if you ever drive
10:51
through
the Y on the Left Right by South
10:54
Lake
Brewing yes you will have seen the
10:55
sugarpine
village which is 268 units and
10:58
the
first people are be moving in this
11:00
fall
we feel really proud of those
11:03
because
they're really nice they have
11:05
air
conditioning for which I we don't
11:07
have
we don't have a that's in our
11:11
they're
really nice and so I think
11:12
something
else because a lot of people
11:14
talk
about why didn't we just have Motel
11:16
6
be affordable housing why don't we
11:18
just
you know do some renovation to some
11:20
existing
crummy motels and it's because
11:22
we
want people to have nice housing we
11:24
want
people to have respectful housing
11:26
we
want you to be able to come to South
11:28
Lake
Tahoe and get a an entry-level job
11:31
and
live somewhere nice we don't want
11:33
you
to have to live somewhere crummy no
11:35
one
wants that I don't want to live
11:36
somewhere
crummy yeah so that's been
11:39
another
goal that our Council and our
11:41
housing
department have really worked on
11:43
so
the housing manager's name is Jessica
11:45
wackenhut
lelly she is lovely you can
11:48
email
you can go on the city website you
11:49
can
find her email address the city
11:51
staff
is very accessible and they will
11:54
help
11:55
you
that is amazing to me I feel like
11:58
somehow
12:00
you
know I'm I'm on the PTA and I'm as
12:02
I'm
was my first year being on the PTA
12:05
and
my daughter I we did have the option
12:07
of
being part of a charter school when
12:09
we
were living in Southern California
12:10
which
is really great because the
12:11
parents
were involved there was just so
12:13
much
more involvement I really feel like
12:15
here's
the what I would say the good
12:17
thing
out of this is out of the vacancy
12:21
tax
is it woke people up it woke people
12:24
up
to do more and so I feel like as now
12:28
a
new member of the city is to say well
12:31
what
can we do how do we how do we do
12:33
more
or how do we allow people to
12:36
recognize
what's happening and so that's
12:37
what
I found out with the PTA is we're
12:39
trying
to fundraise is when I just don't
12:41
think
that the parents really knew we're
12:43
not
out in the front what we used to do
12:44
with
the charter schools as we' sit
12:46
right
out in the front and say hey we're
12:48
having
this fundraiser at Al works this
12:49
weekend
come on down and d and and it
12:52
makes
families realize that there's so
12:54
much
happening at the school but if
12:56
there's
a small staff because of course
12:58
I
do know that I think it was it 36% of
13:01
students
have left in the last 20
13:04
something
years um understandable uh
13:07
that
you know obviously we want that
13:09
growth
we want those students in those
13:11
seats
so you know I'm I'm the full
13:14
cheerleader
I even came up with a song
13:15
in
PTA they were laughing at me PTA P
13:19
PTA
and so I think if we have more
13:22
cheerleaders
about really understanding
13:25
where
we can find affordable housing and
13:28
maybe
we do have those um you know part
13:31
of
those festivals or at the farmers
13:32
market
we have people I don't know if we
13:34
want
to volunteer or not I'll be at the
13:35
farmers
markets I can help with that as
13:37
well
at my own uh at my own tent and and
13:41
say
hey look these are some options that
13:43
we
could if you are someone who wants to
13:44
live
here talking with locals and I'm
13:47
sure
you do as well is and asking them
13:50
you
know what's it like right now the
13:52
whole
city at the moment I think like I
13:54
said
the whole the whole nation is sort
13:57
of
suffering is what can we do to help
14:00
not
only our residents but continue
14:02
people
to want to come visit here
14:04
because
we that's we're a destination CI
14:08
so
what do we do to create that that's a
14:11
really
good question and I I love that
14:13
you're
on PTA that's a
14:15
good
14:17
T
our youth is our future leaders and I
14:20
agree
with that completely I think
14:23
that
at the city in particular we are
14:26
not
as good as we could be about talking
14:28
about
our
14:30
successes
um that's something that we
14:32
talk
about a lot is how to really get
14:35
the
word out there about everything that
14:37
we're
doing and so the city is really
14:38
active
on social media and you know we
14:41
have
newsletter and all those things but
14:42
there's
always more to do in that area
14:46
to
remind people that we are one
14:48
Community
we don't promote divisiveness
14:52
and
something that so I went last night
14:55
as
I mentioned to the town hall to
14:57
understand
what people were saying about
14:59
vacancy
tax and one of the things that
15:01
came
out of that was someone started
15:03
with
this is not a blue or red issue
15:06
this
is not a renter versus homeowner
15:09
issue
it's not a local versus tourist
15:10
issue
it's not a young versus old issue
15:13
it's
We Are One community and we want to
15:16
focus
on
15:18
Solutions
and we don't want to be
15:21
divisive
or punitive we want to really
15:23
try
and think
15:25
about
what is best for everyone and
15:27
that's
really difficult to do you know
15:31
you
with you saying that I think about
15:34
if
we put all this energy
15:37
into
the line right the divisiveness of
15:40
just
this side and this side imagine
15:42
what
could happen because we all live
15:44
here
so for all living here and I know
15:47
it's
hard for everyone to decide
15:49
perfectly
that one thing is the right
15:51
way
and I do understand that but it's
15:54
it's
really you know teaching reteaching
15:58
ourselves
15:59
us
included even though we're trying to
16:01
we
still have our own personal opinions
16:04
um
however what can we do much like and
16:07
I'm
just going to use this as an example
16:09
like
last year after the 4th of July
16:12
when
we had 80,000 pounds of trash how
16:15
many
people and how many volunteers came
16:17
out
to clean up that trash and it didn't
16:19
matter
what you felt about the vacancy
16:22
tax
uh our our locals came out to clean
16:26
up
that mess and they clean it up in
16:27
what
four hours it's all around the lake
16:29
we
shouldn't have to do that in the
16:30
first
place however I'm just using that
16:33
as
this is when it doesn't matter what
16:36
we
think all we know is that this Lake
16:38
needs
to stay Tahoe Blue and that's what
16:40
we
care about and so I think if we can
16:43
look
at it in that manner to say who's
16:46
got
a great idea and who wants to um
16:48
like
all the little all the coalitions
16:50
out
there on Facebook going you know
16:51
what
what if we all got together and
16:53
said
okay we give the knowledge of the
16:55
vacancy
tax to say you know is there
16:58
make
making suggestions if we if you
17:00
want
to vote no on it you vote no on it
17:02
if
you want to vote Yes just make sure
17:04
you
do your homework I'm always about
17:06
like
the facts the best facts that you
17:08
can
do is and I know people are reading
17:10
on
it and obviously when it comes to the
17:13
ballot
that's the best thing that you
17:15
can
do is just vote get out and vote and
17:19
then
let's also while this is all
17:22
happening
and before The Ballot Box
17:23
let's
come up with some really really
17:25
great
ideas I I don't want to you know
17:27
take
up too much of everybody's time on
17:29
the
vacancy tax and I think but the the
17:31
bigger
purpose here is how can we create
17:33
these
great venues together and what is
17:35
the
solution and maybe part of that like
17:38
you
admitted it's great to admit our
17:40
faults
where we can go you know what we
17:41
could
do a better job so do we work more
17:44
with
network TV I happen to know a
17:46
couple
people on the
17:47
news
and and you know and through our
17:50
social
media this way and to really get
17:52
out
there and create hey on this date
17:54
let's
do a day where all the locals can
17:57
come
out homeowners renters employees
18:00
business
owners and we're going to do
18:01
something
great at you know maybe the
18:03
farmers
Market's the easiest place to do
18:06
these
things I'm not sure I'm just you
18:08
know
as we're talking I'm just thring
18:10
all
ideas all ideas are good ideas and I
18:12
want
to say one quick thing which is um
18:15
at
our last council meeting we voted to
18:18
ask
the city attorney's office using a
18:20
consultant
to come back with a report on
18:23
the
effects of the bacancy tax should it
18:25
pass
okay so that is going that's going
18:28
on
right now and so that's going to be
18:30
you
know a very unbiased high level um
18:33
information
that's specifically intended
18:36
for
our constituents so that people can
18:39
really
do their homework really
18:41
understand
what will happen if this does
18:43
if
this does pass or if it doesn't pass
18:46
um
and so that report will be presented
18:48
to
Council on June 18th and is available
18:50
to
the public and we would specifically
18:52
love
everyone to read it and then after
18:55
they
read it is there something are
18:56
there
suggestions or is just knowledge
18:58
it's
just knowledge it's it's to help
19:00
inform
your vote okay so get out and
19:04
vote
is definitely the biggest thing but
19:07
if
if people have questions is there a
19:09
place
that they can email you at um sure
19:12
I
mean yeah I mean you or the council or
19:14
um
our City website is good you can find
19:17
my
picture and click email Christie and
19:19
it
that's what I did to get the
19:20
interview
it works it worked look at
19:23
that
so yeah so we're all really
19:25
accessible
the city manager the City
19:26
attorney
the City attorney doesn't
19:28
provide
legal advice to anyone but the
19:31
city
you know the city council so she
19:33
won't
provide legal advice to someone
19:35
who
asks um but there's lots of sources
19:37
of
information and definitely we want
19:40
our
constituency to be well informed
19:42
because
this this is well on every issue
19:45
I
was say this is really important
19:46
they're
all really important so really
19:48
yes
doing your homework and um asking
19:50
questions
of us we always answer oh you
19:55
do
always answer yeah like I said this
19:57
is
I I really app appreciate you
19:59
answering
me because I felt as I was
20:01
reading
on nextdoor.com and you know
20:04
some
of the the multiple Facebook pages
20:07
and
again talking to locals myself and
20:10
you
know just trying to understand both
20:12
sides
you know and um of course I can
20:15
always
have my own biased opinion but I
20:17
I
really want to take other people's
20:19
opinions
and say okay we're human beings
20:22
we
have blood flowing through our bodies
20:25
the
same way and our organs all work the
20:27
same
and it's just
20:29
you
know it's it's really tough to put
20:31
down
your ego Y and to you know find
20:34
better
Solutions and that works for both
20:36
sides
of this vacancy tax right is both
20:39
sides
of this and I do believe that
20:42
there
is a a better way than just always
20:45
taxing
um but again I'm always open to
20:48
saying
well this is you know better
20:50
because
of this and again we can take
20:53
our
opinions and we can vote um for sure
20:56
and
the one thing too as we talked about
20:59
earlier
is change is always going to
21:01
happen
always it's the one thing we will
21:04
always
be able to count on in life
21:05
whether
we like it or not is change and
21:08
how
much you want to be a part of that
21:09
change
so I um I think that again do
21:14
your
homework let's let's get together
21:16
and
figure out ways to do something more
21:18
and
also if I could ask you one little
21:20
question
for my viewers too that that um
21:23
you
know we work a lot on you know just
21:25
how
to kind of stand up for yourself in
21:29
a
way that it it's inspiring for just
21:33
especially
Women to Women because I have
21:34
a
lot of female viewers which is and and
21:36
listeners
which is really great what is
21:38
it
that you do for yourself to just you
21:42
know
bring this confidence and you know
21:44
what
you do for the city is a lot and
21:46
you
really have to do a lot for a lot of
21:48
people
so what is it that you do for
21:50
yourself
in the morning or at night do
21:52
you
have a something that you do that
21:53
really
creates this advos for yourself I
21:55
do
that's a great question and I have
21:57
and
I will say that I yeah thank you for
21:59
saying
that yeah I uh I have really
22:02
loved
being on city council it's been
22:05
being
able to um represent our community
22:08
in
this way and support our community in
22:09
this
way has meant so much to me and I'm
22:12
an
introvert and so it it sometimes
22:15
takes
a lot out of me but I love it so I
22:18
really
always do it but the thing that I
22:21
do
for myself is I do Crossroad puzzles
22:23
oh
amazing I love Crossroad puzzles the
22:26
New
York Times Crossroad gets more
22:28
difficult
m Monday Tuesday Wednesday
22:29
Wednesday
is my Wednesday is my sweet
22:31
spot
um Thursday and Friday are more
22:34
difficult
the Sunday I have done and
22:35
then
during Co I started making them
22:37
they
were very bad um it's really hard a
22:40
lot
a lot harder than I thought yeah
22:42
yeah
the questions are kind of you have
22:44
to
yeah and fit it all together fake
22:46
things
like UPS um and but I love it and
22:50
it
it um just calms me but stimulates my
22:52
brain
it just it turned out to be a
22:54
really
perfect um activity for me to
22:58
self
22:59
that's
really cool because we so many of
23:01
listeners
know that I have another
23:03
company
called um Aloha life coaching
23:05
but
in the our store is TOA it's our our
23:08
Lifestyle
brand and our question is that
23:11
we
ask a lot of people is how do you TOA
23:13
so
that is how you TOA I do okay well
23:17
thank
you very much is there anything
23:19
else
that you want to add I want to give
23:20
you
like the last word just because I
23:21
know
there's so much information and we
23:23
probably
didn't cover maybe half of it
23:26
but
um or maybe we did but if there's
23:28
anything
there's defin definitely a lot
23:30
of
information and I think that if you
23:32
look
you will find it and I would say go
23:35
to
primary sources you know don't just
23:38
crowdsource
information and look on next
23:40
door
really read the vacancy tax
23:41
ordinance
several people have posted it
23:44
around
it is available from the county
23:46
elections
office like there's a lot of
23:49
places
to find true information and that
23:52
that
would be my suggestion for you to
23:53
be
the the best informed you can be to
23:56
make
the choice that you are so lucky in
23:59
our
democracy to be able to make yes for
24:01
sure
so get out and vote this is the
24:03
year
to do it everybody thank you thank
24:05
you
so much for listening thank you
24:06
Christy
for being here I'm excited
24:08
hopefully
this isn't the last time yes
24:11
okay
we'll have some other topics it'll
24:13
be
fun uh appreciate you and kup Tahoe
24:16
for
letting us uh host this today so I
24:19
really
appreciate your time and we'll
24:22
see
you next time on everything from A
24:24
to
Z thanks bye bye
English
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Interviewer Ari Zucker interviewer identifies herself as a “Passionate animal lover, Actor, Life Coach, Positivity Advocate! Thank you U.S.A. ❤️š” Image at left is from her Facebook page
-Kay Ebeling
