Tech Leaders Face San Francisco Tax on Homelessness



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Saleforce's general manager, Marc Benioff, is demanding a tax on San Francisco's largest companies to raise funds for homelessness efforts. The CEO of Twitter and Square, Jack Dorsey, is opposed to the tax and wants to let the new mayor of the city, London Breed, develop alternative plans.

"These technology leaders need to realize that if they want to do business in San Francisco and use all of our civic resources, and in some cases benefit from tax breaks in the mid-market, they should be more than happy." It's what these companies are doing to help us focus on our number one problem, "Benioff told CNN Business in a telephone interview Friday afternoon.

Benioff is spending money to promote the C vote proposal, which would tax big businesses based in the city. The tax would vary, but would represent about 0.5% of gross revenues over $ 50 million per year of businesses.

It would raise $ 300 million a year to address homelessness by building more housing, increasing mental health care and adding shelter beds. This is double what the city currently spends a year on the issue.

Salesforce is the largest employer in the city and Benioff, a San Francisco native, is very active in local issues. He has been a major donor to public schools in San Francisco and Oakland and recently helped raise $ 37 million for the Heading Home campaign, which aims to get families out with street kids.

"I want to help solve the problem of homelessness in SF and California, and I do not think this (proposal C) is the best way to do it," Dorsey said in a response to Tweet at Benioff on Friday.

Benioff responded by asking for examples of Dorsey's help and donations that he made. Dorsey called the issue a "distraction" and said he wanted to support the efforts of the mayor of London Breed.

Mayor Breed spoke out against the proposal, citing concerns about oversight and accountability as to how the money is being used. Breed added that some concerns could also lead to layoffs or relocation of companies. Breed wants to know more about the impact this will have on the local economy.

"I do not believe that doubling what we spend for homelessness without new responsibility, while we are not even spending what we have now effectively, it's a good government," Breed said in a statement. communicated. "I strongly agree that businesses can pay more to address the homelessness crisis, which is why I will lead the effort to get it right, as mayor, and j & rsquo; I look forward to continuing to work in partnership with Mark and other people. "

In a statement, a Square spokesman said, "Homelessness in San Francisco is a humanitarian crisis." We support the calls of Mayor of London Breed, Senator Scott Wiener, and the member of the Assembly. , David Chiu, to a consensus response to the problem of homelessness "with the mayor, local organizations and other companies for a unified approach to this issue. Proposal C is not this approach. "

Benioff says he recently received a call from the mayor asking for $ 8 million to fund a new housing center.

"If she had Prop C, she would not have to claim that money, it would have already been given to her, that seems pretty simple," Benioff said.

The debate reflects a controversial battle similar to Seattle last summer. The city had proposed a new entry tax for corporations to raise funds for homeless services. Amazon led the charge to prevent the tax from being passed.

The San Francisco tax could be better. A local group of homeless advocates gathered the necessary signatures for the November vote. He enjoys the support of other large companies such as Cisco, as well as representatives Nancy Pelosi and Jackie Speier. And Benioff is ready to fight for this.

"I did not realize until this morning that Jack Dorsey would not support him," Benioff said. "The question is how much it gives back to our public hospitals and schools and our homelessness programs.The only way to improve our city is to tap into the incredible wealth it generates." . "

Benioff, who claims to speak regularly to Dorsey, paid to promote the tweets supporting the proposal.

"I'm glad Jack tweeted this because we need to have a public discussion about roaming and how we are going to solve it."

Dorsey tweeted Friday night that discussions were underway.

"Marc and I talked on the phone, we also talked to the mayor of London this afternoon, we are all talking now to solve this problem as quickly as possible, we will keep everyone informed," he said. declared.

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