still deserve access to the arts. through our programming. we need the funding for culture centers to promote the culture in the city and carefully crafted measure will provide more space for our citizens and our artists. thank you. >> supervisor fewer: thank you very much. next speaker, please. >> hi. thank you for the opportunity to be here. i'm ron goldman, director of education at the san francisco symphony. and also a resident of san francisco. arts are crucially important to me personally and also in my professional life. they're a critical part of the fabric of san francisco, helping to define what this city is. the san francisco symphony for 100 years has been very involved in the pursuit of ensuring that

everyone in the city has access to arts. when the school district made its first cuts to music a number of decades ago, the symphony stepped in and formed a partnership with the san francisco unified school district to created a ventures in music program, a program that ensures every single child with music services in grades 1-5. in every elementary school in the neighborhood, every community. we see how important the arts are. this equitable access to arts are for every single person. i'm asking for your support of the amendments to the hotel tax allocations initiative coalition. thank you. >> supervisor fewer: thank you

very much. next speaker, please. >> good morning. thank you very much, supervisors. glad to be here. i'm suzanne ferris, creative iq art studio in richmond district. i work with community organizations like festivals on richmond district and balboa street. i was born and raised in richmond district. i've lived here my whole life. i feel that it is our responsibility to support the arts as they are in crisis in san francisco. [please stand by]

>> i'm here before you all to let you know as an artist, and as an artist in the d-1, we're here to stay with or without your funding, although we are in dire need of it. we will continue to support each other in our community, like we always have, but with that said, we are struggling, we don't just want your help, we need it. please support the ballot measure, please fund district 1, and please don't let the arts and culture die in the city. thank you. >> supervisor cohen: next speaker. >> good afternoon, supervisors. eric arguello with calle 24 cultural district. i first want to congratulate

supervisor mandelman. we ask that you support the amendments introduced for the hotel tax allocation initiatives allocation. cultural districts were setup as a tool to preserve and enhance areas in the city that are experiencing displacement and gentrification. many of our artists have been displaced. rent for nonprofits have increased, cost and displacements of our nonprofit organizations. the arts generate revenue for the local level that benefits everyone. there is a rich cultural heritage that must be preserved in this city, and this measure will help protect and preserve it, stablizing the community as a whole. thank you. >> good afternoon. thank you very much for your time. my name is kelly ground, an actor and member of actors equity association. on behalf of all the members,

over 600, that live and work in the bay area i'm here to support the amendments to the bay area. we represent professional stage managers and actors and actresses who work in life theater. our members go to workday and night at theaters in the bay area. working actors like me are a part of the fabric of the city, but none of the programs have reaped the benefits of the cultural and economic boom. this measure will help ensure grant money and job goeth for working artists and the cultural organizations which employ us. make no mistake, this proposal is not good for those of us who work in the arts in san francisco, a strong cultural economy helps create a stronger economy for everyone.

a 2017 study from the americans for the arts estimates the value generated by audiences attending events in the arts venue to be over 660 million. local arts generated another 780 million in economic activity for a combined impact of 1.4 billion. as the n.e.a. faces repeated attempts by the current administration to zero out funding completely, we look to you for reliable funding to support the arts and culture of our city. on behalf of our community who live and work in the bay area and as part of a united coalition of artists, i want to strongly encourage you to support this initiative. thank you very much. >> good day, supervisors. my name is taya should warchwa.

in an escalating commercial real estate market artists simply cannot afford the cost of renting or owning space in san francisco, period. between 2012 and 2015, rent for arts organizations increased from a rate of $1.50 persquare foot permonth to $5 persquare foot permonth in san francisco. it is almost impossible to find affordable space in san francisco to find the $1 to $2. $2.50 persquare foot price that artists can afford.

cultural displacement continues to rise amidst rapid change. this will help protect the artists community and lively hood to ensure that artists can continue to work and remain here. the artists were united in this measure and it was a strong collaborative measure to produce this. we have worked with many city offices to put together a sound policy that would create a realistic solution for arts and culture funding. and so we ask you today to please approve the amendments introduced for the hotel tax allocation initiatives coalitions. thank you. >> good afternoon, supervisors and thank you for your name. my name is jordan amman and i work as an administrator at san

francisco opera as well as afternoon individual artist -- an individual artist living and work in san francisco. it was san francisco's rich arts community that first drew me here as a student at the conservatory of music just down the street, and it was the rich arts community that convinced me to make a commitment to make my living as an artist despite the vulnerability of our arts community and the high living cost in san francisco. fortunately, i have been able to join the san francisco opera family, whereas an administrator, i have seen firsthand the incredible impact an arts organization of our size can have on a city, not only through diverse and inspiring performances kbu through the thousands of jobs we create each year for artists, musicians, artisans, and craft music educators as well as the profoundly important commitment to share

arts to children. it is vital that as a community we provide funding in supportive programs that such so many lives and foster a spirit of creativity in our city. our arts community doesn't just make san francisco an exciting tourist destination and a vibrant place to live, but it also sets an example to the rest of the country. i ask you to support the amendment today and thank you for your time. >> hello, supervisors. my name is sunshine smith, and i work at cedar bay area, which as a service organization our membership consists of 2,000 theaters and 1,000 theater arrestives. 1,000 of those companies are based in san francisco and despite the support we have from the sfta and the arts

commission, they are still struggling in the unpredictable economic environment. the arts and cultural programming of this city cannot be left behind to languish. personally as someone who has lived in other metropolitan area, i am constantly surprised by the creative that comes out of this community and the genre and institution sizes for them to all come together shows you how important this measure is to all of us. i hope you will support this measure to create a stable funding source for investment in our arts community as well as the future of this city. thank you. >> hello. my name is hannah rachel gary, and i am an actor and play wright, and i am the membership and base administrator for the theater. as you know, artists have been

pushed out, educational funding for the arts has not become a priority, and i believe that all artists should be able to create their art where they want to and all children should be able to find the thing that lights up their soul. without the arts, my life would not be what it is. and the art's community's united -- and the art community's united behind us. it will do many things, as well as make sure kids are exposed to the arts. thank you. >> morning, supervisors, and congratulations, supervisor mandelman. nice to see you in this role. i am the director of california department of the arts. i want to thank you all for the time to consider this very specific measure to restore

funding from the hotel tax fund to the arts, which was the original intention. you know, san francisco is such a beacon, not only in california and the united states, but in the world, and so now that we know that we are the fifth largest economy in the world in california, we deserve to have an arts community in san francisco that continues to be the innovative resource for creativity that we know is the role that we play in the arts nationally. as far as arts infrastructure goes, our organization receives no funding from the city of san francisco for our basic services for artists. our home is in district 2, and so we're happy to be at fort mason center and to be part of a whole web of activities there, but we also serve as a resource for the whole state. we get funding from the city

and county of los angeles. that is the city of los angeles, the county of los angeles, city of san diego, the county and city of sacramento, and we get no support for artists here in san francisco. so i hope that this -- this measure will address this, and i urge you to support it. thank you very much. >> hello, supervisors. my name is vinnie patel. i'm very excited to be here. i'm also a comanager of the vindelson studios. i'm on the board of asian american women artists association. i've been in the arts administration -- i've been in arts administration for over 20 years. i grew up in san francisco in the mission district, and i have to tell you, this is one

of the most amazing times that i've ever been in. i don't wake up in the morning, figuring out who do i have to answer, who do i have to fight. this is an initiative where the whole community is behind it, not only community, but also city hall, and to be working with supervisor tang, supervisor peskin, who i never felt would have backed something, allocation from a tax, you know, to the arts, but we're in this moment right now, and it's a celebratory moment. i brought my son along because he keeps asking me, where are you? and i'm like, this is where i am all the time. i've been fighting for cultural equity in this city for over 20 years, and sometimes trying to explain it to supervisors, sometimes it's -- it maybe feels we're against something else, but what happens in this community, about three years ago, we've been working three years ago together, is we laid cultural equity as the basis of our fight together, and that's what i want to let you know

that this is three years in the making, and the first time all of the arts are all together. and if you would have asked me six years ago, would you sit in a room with the opera symphony, i would say no, why would we? but today, i've been in a room with them over three years, and we're talking about the same thing. it's how do we make our city together. that's why i'm really excited with the 2.5 million we're setting aside to be reactionary to the current needs of our city. thank you very much.

>> -- as often, the role of art and community art, and that's why this is very important to have this type of funding, so that our communities can have a space and have resources to tell our stories, to share ideas, to have conversations about the issues that impact our community. so really about democratizing our resources. second as a cultural district representative, this funding can help the community efforts, the real grassroots efforts that many of our cultural districts have been, you know, coming up with to address in a holistic measures, our employment issues, our health issues, our housing issues, and other issues.

so we really support this and hope that you'll do your part in making democracy continue. thank you. >> good afternoon. my name is teresita parm, and i work with the only public school in soma. so the -- due to the high -- sorry. due to the high cost of living and the housing, bessie has one of the highest rates of family homelessness, which is about one and four students -- one in four students, and many families are forced to live in multifamily households that are overcrowded. funding the arts and cultural district will help keep our community in place, and we need this so we can implement our community to lead affordable

housing strategies. and funding for the arts and cultural districts will help our -- will help us to continue to educate our youth about the cultural and history which is very important for the development and well-being. thank you. >> good day, supervisors. my name's paul herrera. i'm with the soma filipino cultural district. as mentioned many times in this chamber, the filipino community has faced excessive waves of displacement that continue to impact our people today. still, we're continuing to thrive behind the tireless work of our long-standing community service and arts organizations that sustain our peoples' representation and speak with our peoples' voice.

approving funding that would assist our culture district and cultural districts across the city means that the cultural diversity that defines san francisco can continue to blue cross op rather than falling by the wayside as collateral damage resulting from gentrification. promoting the arts and arts community promotes the identity of filipino in san francisco. thank you. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is rachel lasfimos -- lastimosa. it's good to be in here in the people's palace. so i came here to san francisco in 2000 to sharpen my chops and be educated in music. that path in arts has led me to be the arts and cultural

administrator with soma filipinas. san francisco is known for its wide range of culture and arts offerings. with the current housing crisis and affordability challenges that san francisco residents are facing, our city is losing the life blood of cultural bears and artists that ensure the diverse vibrancy of our city. this hotel allocation will put some teeth behind legislation by providing baseline funding for our cultural districts. help us to continue our work by bolstering neighborhood arts, could help protect historical and cultural assets, to fight for affordable housing for our seniors, families, and children so that there is a thriving community for us to be able to develop cultural districts for,

and to celebrate our unique vision of self-determination. thank you. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is nina parks, and i grew up here in san francisco and went to rooftop elementary school, which is an arts-based high school -- i mean, elementary school and it instilled in me the fundamentals of my education which is very important and incidentegrable -- integrable to this city. taxes collected by tourism should be reinvested into our arts and our cultural preservers. the current perception of san francisco is that it's becoming a playground for tech and big business, whereas the jobs in san francisco used to be its people, its art, and its food. that perception is diminishing, and many people go to oakland

for arts and community as well. as a future cannabis business owner, as well, i believe it's crucial for a community to maintain its heart and spirit through its arts. thank you. >> good afternoon, supervisor fewer, supervisor tang, supervisor mandelman, congratulations and welcome to the board of supervisors. my name is steve nakajo. i'm the executive director of the japantown task force whose job is to maintain and preserve the history in san francisco, our san francisco japantown, one of three in the united states, the other two being in los angeles and san jose. our goal is to have japantown thrive as a cultural economic and vibrant neighborhood which will serve as a heart of the japanese american and japanese speaking communities for

generations to come. we support the goal of this proposed ballot initiative to have a dedicated mechanism of funding for culture and arts in the city. since japantown is a designated cultural district and has developed a cultural heritage and sustained economic strategy, there needs to be a funding source to support the strategy. we urge you to support this proposed ballot initiative. i'm a san francisco fire commissioner, 24 years. before that, i was a san francisco art commissioner, vice president. at the time, in the years, what occurred was we had these concepts called cultural center does, and at the time there were -- centers, and at the time, there were very few. all of them became an initiative within that. the concept was trying to have sustainable funding in our diverse cultural city in terms of the arts and culture. san francisco being the asian american capital of the united

states, it's very important that our historical basis started on that. this statement is please do not forget japantown and our 110-year history in this beautiful city. thank you very much. >> supervisor fewer: thank you very much, commissioner. are there any members of the public that would like to speak? seeing none, public comment is now closed. [ gavel ]. >> supervisor fewer: commission -- i mean, supervisor tang, i believe you have some amendments. >> supervisor tang: yes. so first of all, thank you to everyone who came out to public comment but also for your ongoing participation and really fighting for arts funding and cultural district funding, as well, throughout the years. not just recently an association with this initiative ordinance. and yes, when someone else said if supervisor peskin and i are teaming up together to put an initiative ordinance on and dedicate hotel tax funds, i think there's probably something to it. we generally do not support set asides or baselines, but we see

this as reinstituting something that existed before and renewing that. so with that said, the amendments i have today really just clarify the spending levels, and so i think all the committee members should have a copy by now. but for example, in the allocation number 2, starting on page 3 for cultural equiti n dowment, it should -- equity endowment, that should be 37.8 million. for allocation 4, cultural districts, that should be started out at 3 million. allocation number 5, the arts impact endowment should say 2.5 million, and the other ones are more minor, but that was the majority of what we needed to do for this legislation. so at this point, i'd like to ask a colleague on the board to move those amendments for me.

>> supervisor fewer: thank you very much. supervisor stefani? >> supervisor stefani: yes. thank you, supervisor tang, and you know, i was really proud to vote for the legislation established seeing the cultural districts. i'm very pleased that we have found a way to fund them. so at this point, i would like to move the amendments forward and ask the committee that we accept them. >> supervisor fewer: okay. so there's a motion to accept the amendments. can i take that with -- without objection? okay. great. thank you very much. so it is my understanding that this needs to be continued to the meeting of july 19, seeing the amendments being accepted. so can we make a motion? i'd like to make a motion to continue this item to the meeting of july 19. >> as amended. >> supervisor fewer: thank you. we can do that without objection. thank you very much. madam clerk -- thank you for everyone coming out today. madam clerk, can you please call item number 21. >> clerk: yes. item number 21, item submitted to the voters in an election to

be held on november 5, 2018 to add a gross receipt tax category for transportation network company services, private tran set vehicle services and autonomous vehicle passenger services. >> supervisor fewer: thank you very much. i believe we have sonny angulo from supervisor peskin's office. >> yes. i am sonny angulo for supervisor peskin, who can't be here today. he's at the california coastal commission. last month, you did adopt some amendments to include the industry of autonomous vehicles which are currently under a pilot phase under the department of motor vehicles. they're doing some research and design, permitting, but eventually, we anticipate that

they will be granted permit, where in they will be charging fees for passenger services. so when that happens, this -- this tax category would also capture that. so supervisor peskin, for those of you, particularly supervisor mandelman, welcome, who were not here when we first introduced this back in april. this is the equity for impacts tax. it is a gross receipts tax that supervisor peskin initiated as a way to really try and fulfill his obligation as the chair of the transportation authority board to identify and secure funding for about $100 million annually, and our local funds for transportation infrastructure and operations. and we have been slowly chipping away at that overwhelming number, and thank you to those members who helped to unanimously pass the transportation sustainability fee.

[please stand by]

we have struggled to fund basic services and build out infrastructure to keep pace with growth. i wanted to reiterate once again that this is not a tax on drivers or riders, this is a

corporate business tax and not a regulatory business scheme because that is more appropriately the response of our state regulatory system. our offices work closely with the tax office and the tax controller and i have amendments that i would like to offer up fo for consideration today. first, a removal of the central market payroll tax exclusion. initially this piece was intended to clean up the awkward kind of language within the originalal central market that create this filing mid year and

aligned it with the expiration date for the normal filing period, and we thought this was the cleanest way to do it. since then we have heard from a couple of small businesses within the central market tenderloin area they anticipated being able to take advantage of some of these benefits before the expiration, and so i think the cleanest way to do that is to remove it all the way. the second amendment is the addition of one additional tax tier. right now we model the existing tax tiers and rates for the 12a1 category, and that was also to really ensure it was a modest tax, it's fair, it's equitable, and it's below 1%, so that would

create a 1% tax rate for companies that are generating over $50 million in gross receipts in one fiscal year. that was hel help us allow the smaller companies that as they grow they would scale into that top tier but not be burdened with it at this point in time. the third amendment is something that i am really excited about. it is an amendment that would significantly expand the tax base by providing the city the ability to administer business tax for companies doing more than $500,000 in total gross receipts in a fiscal year without running afoul of our tax freedom act. i have been monitoring an interesting case with the supreme court that recently made a ruling in south dakota versus

wayfair and when the june 21 ruling came down, our office was interested in what the implications could be for san francisco and collecting revenue for our city, and given the fact that a lot of these e-commerce internet businesses had such a profound impact on our local small businesses, our brick and mortar, mom and pop businesses in san francisco, and we got confirmation from the city attorney's office and controller's office that this would allow us to collect tax revenue from the companies that do not have a physical presence inside of san francisco, that are not headquartered here and do not have employees here but are doing this business that has had an impact and creating an

unlevel playing field. i will let the tax collector's office and city attorney speak more to that. the final amendment is a technical amendment to adjust our g. a. n. limit that would be able to conform to take into account some of the additional tax revenue that we would be collecting, so with that, i am here for questions and i thought the tax collector's office was also going to be here, but maybe not. >> colleagues any questions? seeing none let's open this up for public comment. are there any members of the public that would like to speak on this initiative. we will wait for you to come up. you don't have to run, it's okay. >> hello supervisors.

i am so excited -- my name is januaryis janice lee. i want to give a little background as we have a couple of newer supervisors here. this question around funding has been going on for a long time i would say starting with mayor lee's transportation task force a few years back done with now mayor breed and through the transportation task force 2045. there is two parts. there is one around the revenue mechanisms and how we will find the right to fund transportation needs and how do we fund the things that keep transportation moving and accessible in our city. this was one of the

recommendations that came out of the report released in january this gross receipted tax measure and we are excited to see this move forward and thank the leadership that made this possible. we are in strong support as a bicycle coalition for seeing this introduced and excited to see this on the ballot and we are grateful for these amendments because it will raise the higher set of revenues. [bell ringing] after the amendments are introduced at the next budget committee meeting we hope to see this. >> jim lazarus, san francisco chamber of commerce. i urge you to not put this on the bat lol, as many of you know in 2012 we spent six months in a civic coalition of city, labor and business coalitions to

develop a ballot measure that converts the city from payroll to gross receipts tax and that process is not completed. the economy and job and salaries are grown far beyond the estimates in the conversion. in 2011 businesses made $410 million of payroll based tax and this year 800 million in payroll gross tax. this will result in a continuation of approximately a half a percent payroll tax in perpetuity until we go back to the voters, hopefully in november of 2020 and readjusting gross receipts -- we need to do that before we target individual business whether it's cannabis,

t. n. c., and we need to work with the mayor's office and tax controller, and get this right so urge you not to move this forward. >> good afternoon supervisors. i am rachel hayden. i am here today to speak on behalf of my membership as well as my board of directors on gross receipts tax in transportation services. we have consistently supported a mission to create money for transportation and part of the advocacy on props j and k and consistent with those efforts to raise money for transportation

task we are supportive of this goal to raise 100 million annually for transportation task. quickly, we do believe that regulation of t. n. c.'s is trucial. i am supportive of the initial proposal as well as the amendments put forth today by supervisor peskin's office and we do believe this is excellent way to raise funding for transportation. if this measure goes before the voters, we will be back to ensure that the fund are consistent with the proposition -- thank you for your time. >> public comment is now closed. so i would like to make it a motion to accept the amendments and can i take that without objection? thank you. [gavel] i would like to make a motion to

continue this item to the meeting of july 19 seeing that we just accepted the amendments. can i take that without object? objection? thank you very much. madame clerk, i think that we are waiting. five minutes? so i would like to recess the meeting for ten minutes, and then we will come back awaiting supervisor cohen's arrive. [recess]

>> we are back.

we would like to have you call item 20. [reading item 20] >> that is a mouthful and i am excited. this is an item i sponsored and i want to continue our conversation around the ever-perplexing cannabis industry. colleagues i want to thank you for hearing this item. this is the last item for today. before i go further on item 20 i would like to deal with item 11, an open motion. i would like to make a motion to continue this item, item 11 for one week's time, so cassie widener can type this up and put

it into the records and woke make it official. >> madame chair, can you please rescind your previous motion. >> i make a motion to rescind whatever motion. >> it was for the committee report. >> okay, so i rescind the motion to rescind to the full board and we will take that without objection and make a new motion, item 11 to continue it for one week. >> that would be july 11, budget and finance subcommittee agenda. >> now i would like to pick up item 20 again, thank you for

hearing this item. gross receipts tax on cannabis related businesses. san francisco is among one of the last major jurisdictions to pass a local tax and our delayed action has given us type to observe and to listen and to learn from the industry around us how other counties and cities are responding, how it has responded to the regulation and how other city and county's taxes have affected the cannabis-related bismark. business market.

california is seeing far less revenue from cannabis than it forecasted, quite frankly because the underground businesses are not coming into compliance. in berkeley they started at 10% and lowered it to 5%. in oakland they proposed a 10% tax and are going to voters to lower that rate as well. the city the committed to doing the heavy lifting and we need

revenue for compassion programs and revenue for educating a population that still fears the effects of cannabis based on years of brainwashing quite frankly and misinformation. these needs from varied and frankly, unpredictable, but they are real. a couple points. first, we as a city must be committed to patient care, tha. we want to make sure that all product is tested and its safe. that is why testing is also exempt from this tax.