A 1.5% payroll tax break for companies moving to San Francisco’s Mid-Market neighborhood is getting mixed reviews.
What became known as the Twitter tax break has boosted business activity in the area, but may have also accelerated the area’s problems, according to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle.
The city’s chief economist says that between 2010 and 2017, Mid-Market produced $6 million more in payroll and gross receipts taxes and added $750,000 in sales taxes to the city’s general fund than it would have if it grew at the same rate as the rest of the city.
In that period, 59 new companies large enough to have to report their payrolls to the city either moved to, or were created in, Mid-Market. The number of retailers grew by 3% in the neighborhood while declining by 1% citywide. The cost to the city was $70 million in lost tax revenue.
The negatives:
— Gentrification has led to higher housing costs and the growth of the district’s homeless population by 1,600 people between 2011 and 2017
— Drug dealing has increased in the neighborhood
— Some companies have failed to follow through on promises they made to aid non-profit organizations in the neighborhood
— Retail vacancies continue to plague the district’s main street
The tax break faces a May 20 expiration, and the consensus is that the city no longer needs to give major tech companies targeted tax breaks, the Chronicle reports.
Related Stories
| Nov 29, 2012
Quake simulation to test concrete building's strength in California
Researchers aim to gauge how buildings constructed with reinforced concrete withstand an earthquake by conducting a simulation test at a two-story building built in the 1920s in El Centro, Calif.
| Nov 29, 2012
AGC offers stormwater compliance webinar
An effective document management system is necessary to stay in compliance with new and forthcoming stormwater runoff requirements, says the Associated General Contractors of America.
| Nov 29, 2012
Government policies help accelerate adoption of green building
Green procurement policies or green building mandates can help accelerate the adoption of green building practices, according to research by Timothy Simcoe and Michael Toffel.
| Nov 26, 2012
Minnesota law to spur development, job creation produced few jobs
Legislation that allowed local governments to direct excess property tax dollars from tax-increment financing districts into other private developments was supposed to kick-start construction hiring in Minnesota.
| Nov 26, 2012
How to boost resilient systems that are sustainable
Cities of the future can be both more resilient and more sustainable by promoting strategies that include solar power and green roofs, programs that minimize demand for energy, rain gardens, and permeable pavement.
| Nov 26, 2012
Developer of nation’s first LEED platinum skyscraper focuses on carbon reduction
The Durst Organization, the developer of the first LEED platinum certified skyscraper in the country, says it will not seek LEED certification for its residential pyramid planned for New York’s West 57th Street.
| Nov 26, 2012
Questions linger over ability of Miami's newer high-rises to withstand hurricanes
Some towers in Miami, rebuilt after a hurricane in 2005, were allowed to be constructed under older building codes instead of newer ones created after Hurricane Wilma.
| Nov 26, 2012
Changes in development and building standards needed for health of Potomac River
The Potomac River’s health stands to suffer if the region does not change its development and building standards, according to the Potomac Conservancy.