Newsom and Peskin join hands
to expand payroll tax credits

Putting political differences aside for a good cause,
Mayor Gavin Newsom and Board President Aaron Peskin announced new legislation Tuesday
to provide tax credits to businesses that hire disadvantaged workers.
File photo by Luke Thomas

By Ari Burack

March 13, 2008

An ordinance introduced Tuesday by Mayor Gavin Newsom would allow more businesses, including small businesses, in certain parts of San Francisco to receive a tax credit for hiring disadvantaged workers, according to the mayor’s office.

In 2007, 10 businesses used the payroll tax credit offered by the city’s Enterprise Zone program, the mayor’s office reported.

The new legislation, cosponsored by Supervisor Aaron Peskin, would amend the program to conform to the state’s version, expanding both the area and the definition of the program within the city, according to the mayor’s office.

According to the mayor’s office, under the expanded definition, employers in certain neighborhoods would be eligible for a local payroll tax credit by hiring veterans, disabled individuals, workers who have been laid off, ex-offenders, economically disadvantaged individuals and those of Native American descent.

Other qualifying employees would include those receiving California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKS) or Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) benefits, the mayor’s office reported.

According to mayor’s office deputy communications director Giselle Barry, for the first two years, a qualifying business would receive a credit equal to 100 percent of the payroll tax for the employee, decreasing each following two-year period to 50 percent, 25 percent, 15 percent and 10 percent.

The new definition would apply only to new hires for positions created in 1992 or later.

The expanded Enterprise Zone would apply to employers in Hunters Point/South Bayshore, the Mission District, the Tenderloin, Chinatown, North Beach, the Western Addition, South of Market, Civic Center, the Financial District, Potrero Hill and Mission Bay.

The proposed ordinance has been forwarded to the Board of Supervisors Government Audit and Oversight Committee, chaired by Peskin, for review.

Board President Aaron Peskin

FCJ Editor

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