Supervisor Peskin proposes small-business fee relief program, previews storefront vacancy tax for March ballot

Supervisor Aaron Peskin told the Board on Nov. 12 that he will submit a request to the city attorney to draft a small-business fee-relief program that would allow substantial reductions in city fees for small businesses.

Peskin, who said he is also proposing a storefront vacancy tax for the March ballot and is preparing materials for the Budget and Finance Committee, framed the request as a response to constituent complaints that fees and inspection-related costs are “feeding small businesses to death” before they can open.

“Approximately 8% of businesses in San Francisco have under 10 employees, approximately 95% of businesses have under a hundred employees,” Peskin said, arguing for a targeted fee relief program for the city’s small-business community. He said his office received data from departments showing instances where small operators face fees in the thousands of dollars in addition to tenant-improvement and rent costs while awaiting city approvals.

What’s next

Peskin said he will submit a city-attorney request to establish the fee-relief program and that he intends to introduce legislation to implement it. He also said he will pursue a storefront vacancy tax for the upcoming March ballot and that his office will continue consultations with affected merchants.

Why it matters

Peskin framed the proposals as an instrument to protect neighborhood commercial corridors and address an array of burdens that increase start-up costs for small businesses. The measures would change how the city imposes and collects certain fees or levies for vacant storefronts, depending on the final legislative language and any ballot measures adopted.

Speaker

- Aaron Peskin — Supervisor — government — Board of Supervisors

Authorities

- city attorney request (type: other) — proposed drafting request for small-business fee relief — referenced_by:["small-business-fee-relief"]

Clarifying details

- business-size statistics cited: “~8% under 10 employees; ~95% under 100 employees” (source: Supervisor Peskin, transcript). - problem described: fees and inspections may add thousands of dollars to start-up costs, in addition to tenant improvements and rent (source: Supervisor Peskin).

Proper names

[{"name":"Aaron Peskin","type":"person"}]

Community relevance

geographies:["San Francisco County"], funding_sources:["city general fund"], impact_groups:["small-business owners","neighborhood merchants"]

Meeting context

engagement_level:{"speakers_count":1,"duration_minutes":6,"items_count":1}, implementation_risk:"medium","history":[{"date":"2019-11-12","note":"Supervisor Peskin announced city-attorney request and intention to pursue storefront vacancy tax for March ballot."}]

Searchable tags

["small-business","fees","storefront-vacancy-tax","Aaron_Peskin","economic-development"]

Provenance

transcript_segments:[{"block_id":"1146.75","local_start":0,"local_end":120,"evidence_excerpt":"On the eve of, the budget and finance committee's consideration of, a storefront vacancy tax, which I am proposing for, this upcoming March ballot, I wanted to provide an update... Today, I'm submitting a city attorney request to establish a small business fee relief program that would allow for substantial reductions in city fees on small businesses in the city and county of San Francisco.","reason_code":"topicintro"},{"block_id":"1280.77","local_start":0,"local_end":80,"evidence_excerpt":"Approximately 8% of businesses in San Francisco have under 10 employees, approximately 95% of businesses have under a hundred employees.","reason_code":"topicfinish"}]

salience:{"overall":0.62,"overall_justification":"Local economic policy aimed at small businesses; affects many neighborhood merchants; paired ballot measure proposal increases urgency.","impact_scope":"local","impact_scope_justification":"Direct effect on neighborhood businesses in San Francisco.","attention_level":"medium","attention_level_justification":"Relevant to business community and small-business advocates." ,"novelty":0.40,"novelty_justification":"Fee-relief proposals are relatively common but a storefront vacancy tax and fee-relief package together are notable locally.","timeliness_urgency":0.60,"timeliness_urgency_justification":"Peskin linked proposal to an upcoming March ballot measure." ,"legal_significance":0.30,"legal_significance_justification":"Would require drafting by city attorney and potential ordinance or ballot measure." ,"budgetary_significance":0.35,"budgetary_significance_justification":"Potential revenue and fee changes could affect city revenues and small-business costs." ,"public_safety_risk":0.00}} ,{