(a) Except as otherwise provided in this Article 29, for the purposes described in Section 2907, the City imposes an annual Vacancy Tax on keeping Taxable Commercial Space Vacant.
(b) The tax on keeping Taxable Commercial Space Vacant in a tax year shall be as follows:
(1) For the 2022 tax year, $250 per linear foot of Frontage.
(2) For the 2023 tax year, $250 per linear foot of Frontage for Taxable Commercial Space that has not been kept Vacant by any person in the 2022 tax year and $500 per linear foot of Frontage for Taxable Commercial Space that has been kept Vacant by any person in the 2022 tax year.
(3) For the 2024 tax year and subsequent tax years:
(A) $250 per linear foot of Frontage for Taxable Commercial Space that has not been kept Vacant by any person in the immediately preceding tax year;
(B) $500 per linear foot of Frontage for Taxable Commercial Space that has been kept Vacant by any person in the immediately preceding tax year but not kept Vacant by any person in the tax year immediately preceding that tax year; and
(C) $1,000 per linear foot of Frontage for all situations in which neither subsection (b)(3)(A) nor subsection (b)(3)(B) of this Section 2904 applies.
(c) The Vacancy Tax shall be payable by: (1) the owner or owners of the Taxable Commercial Space kept Vacant, provided that the Taxable Commercial Space is not leased; (2) the lessee or lessees, and not the owner, of the Taxable Commercial Space kept Vacant, if that Taxable Commercial Space is leased but not subleased; and (3) the sublessee or sublessees, and not the owner or sublessor, of the Taxable Commercial Space kept Vacant, if that Taxable Commercial Space is subleased. Not more than one tax shall be imposed under this Section 2904 by reason of multiple liable owners, lessees, or sublessees. If there are multiple liable owners, lessees, or sublessees, each such person shall be jointly and severally liable for the Vacancy Tax.
(d) A person shall be liable for the Vacancy Tax only if that person has kept Taxable Commercial Space Vacant in a tax year. A person shall be deemed to have kept Taxable Commercial Space Vacant in a tax year if that person and all Related Persons and Affiliates of that person, individually or collectively, have kept that Taxable Commercial Space Vacant for more than 182 days in that tax year.
(e) The imposition of the Vacancy Tax under this Section 2904 shall be suspended for the 2021 tax year.
(Added by Proposition D, 3/3/2020, Eff. 4/17/2020, Oper. 1/1/2021; amended by Ord. 94-20, File No. 200420, App. 6/26/2020, Eff. 7/27/2020)