A planned $100 million regional emergency communication system is one step closer to approval despite concerns about costs and the need for a $65 million overhaul of a separate emergency radio system. Read More
On Wednesday, the Budget and Finance Committee of the Board of Supervisors will take up a bill that would give a payroll tax credit to local employers who hire ex-felons. I imagine this new law, if enacted, would lead to lots of employment rejection letters for nonfelonious citizens. Letters like this:
Click on the photo at right to see a chart of current hiring-based payroll tax breaks available to businesses.
Dear Mr. Morgan, Read More
In recent years, The City has created payroll tax breaks for biotech companies, businesses that move to the mid-Market area and stock options of companies that go public.
Next up: a tax break for hiring ex-offenders.
Ensuring that people coming out of jail can obtain jobs is one way to keep these ex-offenders from ending up right back behind bars. That’s why Supervisor and Sheriff-elect Ross Mirkarimi wants to offer a tax break to businesses that hire them. Read More
After a 13-hour delay, Thursday, the five-member Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee concluded its deliberations over Mayor Ed Lee’s $6.8 billion budget at 2:30 am.
“This is the culmination of a very long budget process,” committee chair Supervisor Carmen Chu said when the committee began its postponed 1 p.m. meeting later that night at 1:55 a.m. Read More
Talks about how to reallocate nearly $20 million in Mayor Ed Lee’s proposed $6.8 billion budget stretched into the night Thursday amid concerns of cuts to social services, contracting out security at hospitals and funding a police academy class. Read More
There’s been a lot of talk about the $380 million deficit and now city officials are diving into the details. On Wednesday, the Board of Supervisors five-member Budget and Finance Committee meets to discuss the large cost of San Francisco’s workforce: fringe benefits, including pension and health care provided. Read More
For a city so close to Silicon Valley, one would think San Francisco’s government would have an enviable technology system. But for years, The City’s technology has been blasted as behind the times. The Police Department reportedly did not have e-mail until last year. Read More
In past years, a staunch progressive used to chair Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee, one of the most powerful legislative committees. Read More
The Superior Court’s request of more than $2 million was supported by the Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee, who on Wednesday sent the request to the full board for a vote. The money would come from the budget’s general fund reserve and the release of the money would require a two-thirds vote by the board. Read More
Had Supervisor John Avalos' proposed transfer tax been in effect for the last decade, The City would have raised an extra $35 million annually, according to the city controller who released an economic analysis report Wednesday. Read More
