San Diego County wanted new powers over real estate taxes. Now it’s pulled the plug on that effort.

A quest by San Diego County to push for a steep increase in real estate taxes has ended before it really started.

The county has bailed on plans to hire a lobbyist in Sacramento to push for a menu of potential tax hikes identified by a subcommittee overseen by Democratic supervisors.

Voice of San Diego first reported the development Thursday.

According to a draft contract, supervisors wanted state lawmakers to allow counties to raise taxes on real estate sales from 55 cents for every $500 in value to $30.55 for every $500 — more than 55 times the old rate.

If imposed on the sale of the average San Diego County home worth $985,000, such a rate would add $60,200 in new taxes.

The draft contract also called for the lobbyist to push lawmakers to let counties start levying payroll taxes, a power they don’t currently have.

For the real estate transfer tax, the county wanted a proposed tax rate that could be adjusted for inflation and altered for different kinds of properties, including second homes, according to the draft contract.

If given the ability by state law, the county would still have had to put such a tax to voters in a ballot measure.

The wish-list of new taxes was included in a request for quotes the county issued on Dec. 18 seeking a “contractor with vast political knowledge.”

The request had a speedy turnaround as well, with quotes due from interested vendors on Dec. 22. The contract was slated to begin on Jan. 1.

But the request for quotes was canceled on Jan. 7.

In recent weeks, Republican Supervisor Jim Desmond had denounced the proposal on social media. He celebrated the cancellation of the request for quotes Friday.

“This is a win for transparency,” Desmond said in a statement. “Once the quiet effort to raise taxes and add new taxes was brought to light, the right outcome followed. County government has the resources it needs, and we should not add to the already high cost of living that San Diegans face every day.”

County spokesperson Tammy Glenn said the contract was cancelled “to explore different options.”

The proposal echoes calls for a transfer tax last April by Board of Supervisors Chair Terra Lawson-Remer. In her State of the County address, she called for a “small transfer fee on the top 1%” of real estate holdings in the county.

The supervisor estimated such a tax would generate $1 billion in revenue for the county.

“As we face a budget crisis in San Diego County created by the federal government under Trump, we’re exploring every possible avenue to protect our community,” Lawson-Remer said in a statement on Friday, adding that a ballot measure to tax “mansions worth five or ten million dollars or more” remains on the table as a policy option.

“That’s a decision that should be made by local voters, not politicians in Sacramento,” she said.

In recent months, Lawson-Remer has been pursuing efforts to find new ways to bring in more revenue.

She and Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe have formed a subcommittee to study the county’s options. That panel, which can operate out of view of the public, drafted the lobbyist contract.

Meanwhile, a coalition of organized labor and nonprofits has kicked off an effort to a put a half-cent county sales tax surcharge to voters.

The coalition is set to begin collecting petition signatures for the proposed sales tax, which organizers project could bring in $360 million in new revenue for the county in its first year.

Leading the tax push is SEIU Local 221, the largest labor union for county workers, which is closely allied with Democratic supervisors and a major financial booster of their political campaigns.

Other members of the coalition is the county firefighter’s union and a network of social services nonprofits.