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San Francisco committee hears evidence that biotech payroll exclusion helped build local cluster; forwards measure to full board without recommendation
Summary
A Board of Supervisors subcommittee heard a city report and broad public testimony supporting an amendment to allow rolling 7.5-year biotech payroll tax exclusions and tighten the definition of "biotechnology." The committee forwarded the ordinance to the full board without a recommendation after extensive questions about local hiring and fiscal impact.
The Budget and Finance Subcommittee on April 20 considered an ordinance that would amend section 906.1 of the San Francisco Business and Tax Regulations Code to clarify what counts as a biotechnology firm and to let eligible companies claim a 7.5-year payroll-tax exclusion regardless of their application date. Supervisor Adelita Alioto Pier, the item sponsor, said the change would make the exemption a "rolling sunset" and require sign-off by the Department of Public Health on applications.
Ted Egan of the Controller's Office summarized the five-year evaluation required by the 2004 ordinance, reporting that San Francisco's share of Bay Area biotechnology employment rose substantially since 2004 and that the city has seen about 2,250 biotech jobs created that the city links to the cluster expansion. Egan and the budget…
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