Peskin wants ballot measure to tax private ride firms
Some private shuttles and ride-hail companies would be subject to taxes totaling millions of dollars annually under a ballot measure that San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin introduced Tuesday.
The measure, which would go before voters in November if four supervisors approve it, would extend the city’s commercial gross receipts tax to the private transportation companies whose vehicles are crowding downtown streets.
San Francisco has welcomed these companies “with open arms,” Peskin said at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, “but our tax system has not kept pace.”
His proposed initiative would also repeal what’s left of the Twitter tax break that Mayor Ed Lee sponsored in 2011, offering a six-year reprieve on payroll taxes to companies to lure them into a derelict stretch of Mid-Market. The Twitter tax break expires in May 2019.
Peskin said his gross receipts tax expansion would generate up to $35 million each year for “vital city services.” But it comes just as voters are weighing two other gross receipts tax measures that target commercial landlords. Proposition C would use the money for child care; Proposition D would direct it toward low- and middle-income housing and homeless shelters. Both are on the June 5 ballot.
Jim Lazarus, senior vice president of public policy at the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, criticized Peskin’s idea.
“The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce agrees that we must fix inequities in the local gross receipts tax, but selectively targeting a handful of companies for punishment, with no guarantee where the money will be spent, is exactly the wrong approach,” Lazarus said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon.
He compared Peskin’s proposal to the two June ballot measures, calling them “a series of poorly considered tax increases that put politics over sound policy.”
Also on Tuesday the board approved Supervisor Jane Kim’s request for supplemental funds to clean city streets.
Kim, who is running for mayor on June 5, whittled her original $2.5 million request down to $1.1 million to win over six supervisors, some of whom appeared to be on the fence. In the end she clinched a 6-5 vote with support from the board’s progressives, plus a swing vote from Supervisor London Breed, who also is running for mayor.
The moderate supervisors who opposed the funding said it’s not appropriate to circumvent the normal budget negotiations, which are already under way.
“I’ve been given assurances that Mayor Mark Farrell has prioritized this issue,” said Supervisor Catherine Stefani, who voted “no,” though she agrees San Francisco’s streets are filthy.
Stefani pointed to open-air drug use as one of the most conspicuous causes of dirty streets. She said it might be a good idea to hire more police officers, rather than throw unassigned funds at its Public Works Department.
Earlier Tuesday, Farrell said that he would veto Kim’s request.
“Street cleaning is a huge issue, as are the cleanliness of our streets. But we need to have a more robust, comprehensive plan that addresses the entire city, not just one district,” the mayor said.
Kim said she will ask him to reconsider his position.
During the board meeting she emphasized that while there was an assumption that the funds would be directed primarily to the Tenderloin and SoMa neighborhoods — both in her district — she intends to allow Public Works to decide where to allocate the funds.