Encinitas Sand Tax May Return in November

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published June 6, 2008 at 9:15 AM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

A ballot measure in Encinitas that was intended to pay for beach sand projects was narrowly rejected by voters this week. But the measure may return in November. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce has details.

A ballot measure in Encinitas that was intended to pay for beach sand projects was narrowly rejected by voters this week. But the measure may return in November. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce has details.

Encinitas voters approved one of two propositions this week that tax people who rent private homes for 30 days or less.

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Voters approved Prop. F, which levies an 8 percent tax on short-term rentals.

But Prop. G narrowly failed.

That measure would have added a 2 percent tax on short-term vacation rentals to pay for sand replenishment and bluff stabilization on the Encinitas coastline.

Steve Aceti is the executive director of the California Coastal Coalition.

He's urging supporters of the measure to bring it back in November.

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Aceti: It's just astounding to me that this measure wouldn't have more support from the landlords. Because if we don't have healthy beaches then they're not going to have to worry about a rental tax, they're going to have to worry about occupancy.

Aceti says a larger voter turnout and an active campaign could give the measure a better chance of passage in November.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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