The program to date has helped fund the purchase of 14 properties and distributed $1.5 million in funding to help 21 qualifying local workers and 27 total people secure housing in eastern Placer. Photo courtesy of California State Parks

NORTH LAKE TAHOE, CA (MPG) - Two county programs in eastern Placer have given key opportunities for local workers in North Lake Tahoe to find housing over the past few years. 

Since July 2022, the east Placer Lease to Locals program has committed over $1 million in incentives to homeowners in North Lake Tahoe to convert their properties to long and short-term rentals for local workers. That funding has helped secure 114 properties and 257 bedrooms to house 270 people, including 213 local workers and 38 children.

Lease to Locals is funded by the TOT-TBID Dollars at Work program through Placer County and administered by Placemate, Inc., formerly Landing Locals.

At Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting in North Lake Tahoe, the board approved amendments to the Lease to Locals program guidelines and approve an additional $500,000 in transient occupancy tax funding for the program. The amendments simplified the child dependent definition to provide flexibility for tenants and families, and a revision makes properties with existing local-worker deed restrictions ineligible for Lease to Locals funding.

By long-standing county policy, all TOT revenue collected in eastern Placer County is reinvested to benefit eastern Placer County. The funding approved this week was solicited, vetted and recommended through the TOT-TBID Dollars at Work program through the new emergent grant cycle with recommendations from the TOT Committee and North Tahoe Community Alliance’s Board of Directors.

“These programs are making a real difference for our local workforce,” said Nikki Streegan, Placer County Housing Manager. “By converting existing homes into long-term rentals and preserving ownership opportunities for local workers, we’re strengthening the fabric of the North Lake Tahoe community.”

The board also heard an update on the county’s Workforce Housing Preservation Program, which has secured seven deed restricted homes for local workers in the last fiscal year, distributing nearly $800K in incentives. 

The program to date has helped fund the purchase of 14 properties and distributed $1.5 million in funding to help 21 qualifying local workers and 27 total people secure housing in eastern Placer. An average of $108,771 has been distributed for down payment assistance to those 14 households.

Learn more about Lease to Locals.

Learn more about the Workforce Housing Preservation Program.