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Trying to get control over the cost of housing in Seattle is a big issue in the mayoral race.

Finalist Cary Moon has proposed a tax similar to what is being used in Vancouver, B.C. to discourage speculation.

has evaluated the idea and says it doesn’t hold up to our state’s Constitution.

“First and foremost, I think, frankly, it’s unconstitutional under the state’s . You can’t apply special taxes to property owners; certainly not based on nationality, ethnicity, race, or whether or not they’re even a citizen,” he said.

But Vancouver targeted overseas buyers, why can’t we? Aside from the constitutional issues, the problem, Wilson says, is two fold. First, Vancouver’s real estate market “cratered,” but it didn’t actually bring the cost of property down significantly, according to Wilson. It also had a negative effect on tech workers that moved or were moving to Canada that purchased homes.

Making the cost of housing more palatable in Seattle has led to other ideas as well. That includes slapping a vacancy tax on uninhabited homes. That, however, runs into similar problems.

“We’ve got tremendous anxiety about housing affordability and the imbalance of supply and demand,” Wilson said. We also “have a situation where we see ideas proposed that can’t be implemented, are unconstitutional, or our current law … lags behind reality.”

Is there anything we can do to manipulate the market to make it easier to buy a house?

A few things, according to Wilson.

• Use publicly-owned land not being used or under-used for low-income housing.
• A homestead exemption to lower taxes.
• Streamline city code to make it easier to build backyard cottages, for example.

Wilson says proposals like what we’re currently seeing in Seattle are “false” issues.

“They are distractions from dealing with core issues,” he said.

Listen to the entire conversation here.