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San Francisco County, CA November 5, 2002 Election
Measure M
Economic Development
County of San Francisco

Ordinance

93,404 / 48.77% Yes votes ...... 98,127 / 51.23% No votes

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Information shown below: Summary | Fiscal Impact | Yes/No Meaning | Full Text

Shall the City give new duties to its Office of Economic Development and shall the City use money from its business registration tax to promote economic and business development?

Summary Prepared by Ballot Simplification Committee:
The Way It is Now:
The City's Office of Economic Development creates and runs programs to attract and keep businesses, revitalize commercial areas, assist with redevelopment projects and expand the City's tax and employment base. The City charges businesses an annual registration fee. This money goes into the City's General Fund.

The Proposal:
Proposition M is an ordinance that would give the Office of Economic Development new duties and use business registration fees to promote economic development in the City.
The Office of Economic Development would have to prepare and maintain an Economic Development Plan for the City.

The Plan would:

  • Analyze existing jobs and identify opportunities to create and keep jobs;
  • Analyze the City's taxes and fees to find sources of added revenue;
  • Set goals for creating jobs and new sources of taxes and fees;
  • Identify areas in the City suited for business and economic development;
  • Evaluate the effect of the City's land use policies on economic development;
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of San Francisco's business and economic development policies compared to those of other cities; and
  • Report on barriers to business development in San Francisco.
Proposition M also would require the Office of Economic Development to report to the Mayor and Board of Supervisors the potential impact of certain pending legislation on the City's economy, including business development, employment and revenue.

Fiscal Impact from Controller, Edward M. Harrington:
Should the proposed ordinance be approved by the voters, in my opinion, an amount equal to the annual City yield from business registration fees would be dedicated to a new fund. This year, revenue from business registration fees totaled approximately $6.6 million.

This new fund, the San Francisco Development Fund, would be established for the purpose of promoting economic development in San Francisco. The business registration fees that are currently included in the City's budget would no longer be available to fund any other City purpose. The economic development activities required by the Ordinance may ultimately lead to improved economic development planning and thereby an increase in tax revenues to the City.

Meaning of Voting Yes/No
A YES vote of this measure means:
If you vote "Yes," you want the Office of Economic Development to have new duties and use business registration fees to promote economic development.

A NO vote of this measure means:
If you vote "No," you do not want to makes these changes.

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Full Text of Measure M
PROPOSITION M

The Mayor hereby orders submitted to the qualified electors of the City and County of San Francisco, for the November 5, 2002 election, the following Ordinance amending the San Francisco Administrative Code. This Ordinance, if approved by a majority of such electors at such election, would: (1) require the Office of Economic Development to prepare and annually update an Economic Development Plan, (2) create a San Francisco Economic Development Fund to promote economic and business development and attract and retain jobs within the City, (3) create an Economic Development Committee to administer the fund, and (4) require, as part of the local legislative process, that the Office of Economic Development prepare an analysis of the potential impacts of proposed legislation upon the San Francisco economy and tax revenues prior to enactment by the Board of Supervisors.

Note: Additions are single-underline italics Times New Roman.

Be it ordained by the People of the City and County of San Francisco:

Section 1. The San Francisco Administrative Code is hereby amended by adding Article 93, to read as follows: Article 93 Economic Development Plan

Sec. 93.1. Economic Development Plan. (a) Within six months of the effective date of this Article, and annually thereafter, the Office of Economic Development shall promulgate and present to the Mayor and Board of Supervisors the San Francisco Economic Development Plan pursuant to the provisions of this Article. (b) The plan and annual updates shall include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) An analysis of employment in the City by industry and job classification;
(2) An analysis of the City's tax revenues broken down by industry type and firm size, including but not limited to the amount of taxes and fees attributable to the payroll expense tax, sales tax, business registration fees, property tax, property transfer tax, utility users tax, and development impact fees;
(3) An analysis of which industries are likely to create significant numbers of jobs in the City in the succeeding three years, together with an assessment of the skills and education typically required to obtain such jobs. The Office of Economic Development shall solicit input from public and private entities in the compilation of data and analyses for this survey of industries likely to create jobs, including but not limited to the Federal Reserve Bank for this district, Chamber of Commerce, Convention and Visitors Bureau, Urban Institute of San Francisco State University, SPUR, San Francisco Labor Council, and Workforce Investment Board;
(4) Proposed goals, based on the research compiled in the plan, for job and revenue generation, describing the industries, wage levels, skills and education required for the jobs the City would like to retain and attract, and the anticipated tax revenue these jobs create. The Office of Economic Development shall solicit the input of the Treasurer and Controller in the formulation of such goals; and
(5) A survey of areas and sites within the City suitable for development. The Office of Economic Development, with assistance from the Office of Real Estate, San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, Port of San Francisco, Department of City Planning, and other appropriate City offices, shall develop, maintain and make publicly available on the internet a database of areas and sites within the City in which firms desiring to create jobs described in the plan may locate, together with a summary of the City permits, licenses and other approvals necessary for such prospective employers to locate in these identified areas and sites. The Office of Economic Development shall utilize studies from the Department of City Planning to evaluate how the City's land use policies impact short-term and long-term economic development goals and opportunities for the City and the business community.
(c) In addition to the requirements set forth in subsection (b), the Office of Economic Development shall include the following in the plan and annual updates required by this Article:
(1) A summary and synthesis of the existing body of work on economic opportunities and strategies for economic development and job attraction and retention; (2) An analysis of the office and industrial markets in the City; (3) A review of the physical, financial, market and organizational factors impacting the City's ability to attract, retain and increase office and industrial jobs; (4) The identification and analysis of, and where appropriate integration with, other significant public and private sector economic plans and initiatives intended to promote economic development within the City and the region; (5) An assessment of the City's competitive strengths and weaknesses with respect to other regional, state and national markets; (6) The identification of best practices that other jurisdictions have successfully implemented to create jobs, with particular emphasis on office and industrial jobs, within their respective communities; (7) The application of commonly accepted statistical methods, such as cluster analysis or location quotient analysis, to support recommended strategies for attracting commercial tenants; and (8) Recommendations for specific strategies, tools, techniques and resources required to successfully implement strategies for economic development and to achieve specific economic development and job creation and retention goals set forth in the plan. (d) As part of the initial plan required by this Article, and not less than once every three years thereafter, the Office of Economic Development shall conduct a survey of key industries and significant employment generators that identifies impediments to business and employment retention in and attraction to the City, such as zoning, permitting, taxes and fees, regulatory schemes and other City policies, requirements and other matters that may inhibit economic development and job creation within the City. The Office of Economic Development shall publish the survey, to be entitled "The Survey on Barriers to Employment Retention and Attraction," in conjunction with and at the same time as promulgation of the first Economic Development Plan required by this Article. (e) Prior to enactment of any legislation proposed by the Board of Supervisors relating to a subject area described in the then-current version of The Survey on Barriers to Employment Retention and Attraction, the Office of Economic Development shall prepare for the Board of Supervisors and Mayor an economic impact report for the subject legislation. The Office of Economic Development shall solicit assistance from the Board of Supervisors' Budget Analyst, the Controller's Office, and such public or private economists or other academicians as may be appropriate to analyze the likely impacts of the legislation on business attraction and retention, revenues and employment creation, tax and fee revenues to the City and other matters relating to the overall economic health of the City.

Sec. 93.2. Assistance from Other City Departments. All departments, offices and employees of the City, including but not limited to the Office of the Treasurer/Tax Collector, Controller's Office, Department of Real Estate, San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, Port of San Francisco, Office of Small Business Affairs and Department of City Planning, shall assist the Office of Economic Development in the compilation of data, analyses, and preparation of the plans, surveys and annual updates required by this Article.

Sec. 93.3. Establishment of Economic Development Committee; Approval of Expenditures from Economic Development Fund. (a) There is hereby established the San Francisco Economic Development Committee consisting of the Mayor, President of the Board of Supervisors, Treasurer and Controller, or their designees, and the Director of the Department of City Planning, Director of the Office of Economic Development, and Director of the Office of Community Development. The members of the committee shall not be compensated for their service upon the committee. (b) The committee shall approve all expenditures from the San Francisco Economic Development Fund established under Section 10.100-296 of this code.

Section 2. The San Francisco Administrative Code is hereby amended by adding Section 10.100-296, to read as follows:

Sec. 10.100-296. San Francisco Economic Development Fund. (a) Establishment of Fund. The San Francisco Economic Development Fund is established as a category two fund to receive all monies appropriated therefor, and any other monies transferred into the fund, pursuant to this section and Article 93 of this code. Each year, the Mayor shall propose and the Board of Supervisors shall enact an annual budget for the City that includes an appropriation from the general fund in an amount necessary to establish an unexpended balance on July 1 of not less than one hundred percent (100%) of the anticipated revenue for such year derived from the business registration fees imposed under Article 12 of the Business and Tax Regulations Code. (b) Use of Fund. The fund shall be used solely for the purpose of developing and improving employment and business opportunities in San Francisco and promoting the economic development of San Francisco, as identified in the San Francisco Economic Development Plan promulgated by the Office of Economic Development and approved by the San Francisco Economic Development Committee pursuant to Article 93 of this code, and related administrative costs pursuant to Section 10.194 et seq. of this code.

Section 3. There is hereby appropriated from any lawful source of funds for the San Francisco Economic Development Fund established by this ordinance an amount equal to the City's budgeted business registration fee revenue for the fiscal year 2002 # 2003.


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