5 S.F. ballot measures for November election
The five local measures facing San Francisco voters on the Nov. 6 ballot were given their identifying letters Monday by the Department of Elections.
According to city law, bond measures get top billing on San Francisco ballots, followed by any amendments to the City Charter and then ordinance proposals.
The November ballot will feature one bond measure and one charter amendment, so they were assigned letters A and B.
Aside from those two, the three ordinances were assigned their letters by random selection: typing the titles on slips of paper and plucking them out of a jar.
Proposition A: Also known as the Embarcadero Seawall Earthquake Safety Bond, Prop. A asks voters if they want the city to issue $425 million in bond debt to pay for major repairs and upgrades to the crumbling Embarcadero seawall. The seawall underpins and protects an estimated $100 billion in property and infrastructure that would be at risk in a major earthquake.
Proposition B: The Privacy First Policy, sponsored by Supervisor Aaron Peskin, lays out a number of personal-dataprotection protocols that businesses would have to abide by to get a permit from the city or do business with it. Under the policy, businesses would have to agree to, among other things, allowing individuals to access the
personal information about them that companies collect.
Proposition C: Known as the Our City, Our Home initiative, the measure would levy an average of about 0.5 percent in gross receipts tax on corporate revenues above $50 million. The estimated $300 million raised would be used to fund homelessness services, primarily programs that help people access permanent, supportive housing. Proposition D: Sponsored by Supervisor Malia Cohen, the measure would place a gross receipts tax on cannabis businesses. The money collected from the tax would go into the general fund. The tax would kick in beginning in 2021. For retail cannabis shops, the tax would be 2.5 percent on the first $1 million in revenue and 5 percent on revenues above $1 million. Nonretail cannabis businesses would be taxed 1 percent on revenues up to $1 million and 1.5 percent on gross receipts above $1 million.
Proposition E: Sponsored by Supervisor Katy Tang, the measure would reallocate about $32 million generated by the existing hotel tax to arts and cultural organizations and projects in the city. The city already levies a 14 percent tax on hotel rentals, the proceeds from which are deposited into the general fund. Tang’s proposal would direct a portion of those proceeds to the arts and to cultural initiatives.
— Dominic Fracassa