SFCTA Poll Shows San Francisco Voters Oppose Proposed Tax Measures

BOMA San Francisco Members:

The results of a survey of San Francisco registered voters conducted from July 1-6, 2010 by the San Francisco County Transpiration Authority (SFCTA)--an agency overseen by all 11 members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors--was released on July 16, 2010.  The survey was conducted to determine the sentiment of the San Francisco electorate with regard to the implementation of a vehicle registration fee and, for comparison purposes, proposed new/increased tax measures (including the Commercial Rent Tax--click here for details on the three tax proposals) for the November 2010 ballot.

You can read the Executive Summary of the Survey Findings, here.

Not surprisingly, the results show that voters in San Francisco oppose any new general-tax measures.  From the Executive Summary (weblinks added):

Proposing tax measures without specifying how the revenue will be spent produces high levels of opposition. The Vehicle Registration Fee is the only one of the four potential local revenue measures tested to specify that the revenues would be spent on transportation, and it is the only one to obtain majority support (62% approval). The other four local revenue measures (an off-street parking tax, a property transfer tax, a payroll and commercial rental tax, and a hotel room surcharge tax) did not specify what the revenues would be used for, and they only obtained 28-45% approval. Similarly, support for the potential 0.5% Vehicle License Fee measure increased from 50% to 62% approval when voters believe that the revenues would be dedicated to transportation improvements (though this is not specified in the currently proposed legislation).

The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to discuss these tax measures today, July 20, 2010, at 2:00 p.m., City Hall, Room 250.  Click here for the agenda (taxes are listed on page 17) and here to watch the hearing.

BOMA San Francisco is a leading partner with the business community to stop any new taxes.  As we’ve been reporting, ANY new taxes would place yet another economic burden upon the thousands of small business, stunt job growth and delay economic recovery.

Click here to visit the Economic Recovery SF website to review what we are doing to stave off new tax measures.  The commercial rent tax and the real property transfer tax directly affect our industry and our clients.