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San Jose, California, Business Revenue Tax Increase Initiative (2016)
| San Jose Business Tax Initiative (abandoned) |
|---|
|
| The basics |
| Election date: |
| November 8, 2016 |
| Status: |
 Not on the ballot
|
| Topic: |
| Local business tax Expires in: Never |
| Related articles |
| Local business tax on the ballot November 8, 2016 ballot measures in California Santa Clara County, California ballot measures |
| See also |
| San Jose, California Municipal elections in San Jose, California (2016) |
An initiative to tax business according to their gross revenue was not put on the ballot for San Jose voters in Santa Clara County, California, on November 8, 2016.[1]
Instead, a compromise was reached between the San Jose City Council and initiative proponents, and the city council put its own business tax measure on the ballot as Measure G, which was designed to approximately double the business tax revenue in the city.[2]
This initiative was named "The Modernization of the Business Tax Ordinance" by petitioners.[3]
| A "yes" vote would have enacted a tax on the gross revenue of businesses within the city, replacing the city's flat $150 business tax. |
| A "no" vote would have not enacted a tax on the gross revenue of businesses within the city, leaving the city's flat $150 business tax in place. |
The initiative was designed to tax businesses that have an annual revenue of more than $1 million at one of three rates: (1) $600 per $1 million in revenue (2) $900 per $1 million in annual revenue or (3) $1,200 per $1 million in annual revenue. Businesses with annual revenues of less than $1 million would be exempt.[4]
The applicable tax rate would have been determined by the industry in which each business was classified:[3][4]
- The rate of $600 per $1 million in revenue, or 0.06 percent, would have applied to manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, information, biotechnology, clean technology and food service businesses.
- The rate of $900 per $1 million in revenue, or 0.09 percent, would have applied to businesses concerned with accommodations, utilities, arts, entertainment, and recreation.
- The rate of $1,200 per $1 million in annual revenue, or 0.12 percent, would have applied to businesses concerned with private education, private health services, administrative and support services and other miscellaneous businesses.
As of December 2015, 26 cities in California, including Oakland and San Francisco, had a per-revenue business tax.[1]
Text of measure
Full text
The full text of the proposed initiative ordinance is available here.
Support
Supporters
San Joseans for a World Class City was the group backing this initiative.[5]
San Jose State University Professor Scott Myers-Lipton, who championed Measure D, the city minimum wage initiative passed in 2012, was the author of this initiative and organized San Joseans for a World Class City.[1]
The San Joseans for a World Clas City website listed the following as supporters of the initiative:
- Step Up Silicon Valley, a group formed by Catholic Charities
- The San Jose chapter of the NAACP
- Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence
- The Stride Center
- Injustice for Immigrants
Arguments in favor
Myers-Lipton said, "We're one of the only major cities in California that doesn't have a gross-receipts tax. Other cities have modernized their business tax."[1]
Opposition
Opponents
The San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce opposed this initiative.[3]
Pat Sausedo, executive director of the Silicon Valley branch of NAIOP, which is the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, said, "The devil is in the details of these 18 pages (of the initiative)" and stated that her group was "opposed to the gross receipts tax, opposed to making it more costly ... to do business in San Jose."[6]
Arguments against
Matthew Mahood, CEO of the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, argued that the measure would push businesses away from the city. Mahood said, “The feedback (from our members) has been overwhelming to move us in the direction of not only opposing the measure, but also having the Chamber leading the charge against it.”[3]
San Jose Vice Mayor Rose Herrera said, "We don't want to discourage companies from coming here right when we're getting started."[7]
Path to the ballot
Per the San Jose City Charter, valid signatures from 5 percent of registered voters within the city are required to put an initiative on the ballot. This amounted to about 20,921 signatures, according to the secretary of state's February 2015 voter registration report. Petitioners had 180 days in which to gather signatures, starting from the day the city attorney issues a ballot title and summary for the initiative. Petitioners filed the initiative with the city in mid-January 2016.[8]
As part of a compromise with the city council, initiative proponents stopped their campaign to put this measure on the ballot and, instead, the city council put its own business tax increase measure before voters.[2]
Other elections
Five seats on the San Jose City Council were up for general election on November 8, 2016.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms San Jose business tax initiative. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Contra Costa Times, "San Jose: Proposed ballot measure ties business tax to revenue," December 24, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Silicon Valley Business Journal, "San Jose voters to decide future of city's business tax," August 10, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Silicon Valley Business Journal, "It's here: Much-anticipated San Jose business tax initiative filed," January 13, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Silicon Valley Business Journal, "More details emerge about San Jose business tax proposal," December 30, 2015
- ↑ San Joseans for a World Class City, "Home," accessed January 11, 2016
- ↑ Silicon Valley Business Journal, "How would proposed San Jose gross receipts tax affect landlords?" January 22, 2016
- ↑ Silicon Valley Business Journal, "San Jose minimum wage point man eyes business tax initiative for 2016," December 28, 2015
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "February 10, 2015, Report of Registration," accessed January 11, 2016
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