Title
Staff Report for Council Discussion / Direction on Business License Tax Holiday for New Businesses
Staffreport
SUMMARY
At the June 17, 2013 City Council meeting, Mayor Cassidy proposed and the City Council unanimously supported, directing staff to provide a report on the creation of a business license tax holiday for new businesses that open in San Leandro. The proposed holiday would be for a specific amount of time, such as six months or one year. The intent of this initiative is to grow the city's revenues by aggressively attracting new investment, employment and services.
BACKGROUND
The City Council has stated goals of fiscal sustainability and program development that advance our economic position and reflect innovation. These goals have taken front stage in recent years due to economic challenges globally and the demise of redevelopment locally. Given that cities rely heavily on sales tax revenue to provide vital services and build projects, there is a constant need to work toward revenue diversification and enhancement. To address the challenge of limited revenue and growing costs of providing services, San Leandro has taken a number of aggressive steps to spur economic activity including:
* Recruitment of Kaiser Hospital project
* Private-Public Partnership to begin and expand Lit San Leandro, and the creation of a new role of Chief Innovation Officer to support this key initiative
* Downtown San Leandro investment, such as the parking garage, pedestrian and lighting enhancements and seed funding for the formation of a community benefit district
* Encouraging housing and office development around downtown BART Station
* Execution of a public planning process for the Shoreline development and management of the environmental review process
* Funding of the Next Generation Workplace District Study to support the creation of vibrant, innovative and attractive 21st century workplaces in the City's industrial area
* Focusi...
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