By Tim Redmond
FEB. 26, 2014 — A tax on real-estate speculators first proposed by Harvey Milk in the late 1970s could wind up on the November San Francisco ballot.
A coalition of tenant groups that put together the series of incredibly successful conventions over the past few months has decided that the most popular, effective measure to come out of the meetings is a tax that would take much of the profit out of buying and flipping properties.
Under the proposal, landlords would have to pay a windfall profits tax if they buy and sell a piece or rental property in six years or less, with the tax decreasing after every year of ownership. It would start at 50 percent.
That means that a speculator who buys a building for $1 million, evicts all the tenants, and sells it in a few months for $2 million would have to pay the city a tax of $500,000. (more after the jump)
