San Francisco voters in November will decide whether to levy an additional tax on large businesses to fund homeless services, part of an expanding effort among West Coast cities to tap cash-flush companies to offset growing income inequality.
The tax would apply to companies with gross receipts above $50 million at rates ranging from 0.175 percent to 0.69 percent for revenue generated in the city, according to the measure, which qualified for the ballot Monday. Companies that pay a tax based on payroll rather than gross receipts would face an additional 1.5 percent levy.
Homelessness has been a scourge across San Francisco, made worse by soaring housing costs fueled in part by a booming technology industry. Funds from the ballot measure would go to housing at least 4,000 homeless people and expanding shelter beds by 1,000 in five years, proponents say. Proceeds of the tax would also finance mental health and substance abuse facilities and rent subsidies. City officials haven't yet determined how much the tax would raise.