San Francisco is considering a new ‘IPO’ tax on technology companies to help “spread the wealth” as the city continues to struggle with rising crime, rampant homelessness, public drug use, and soaring real estate prices.
“City leaders here are proposing to more than triple a tax on stock compensation in a bid to use revenue from a wave of public offerings by tech companies to address concerns about growing wealth disparity,” writes the Wall Street Journal.
“The so-called IPO tax would raise the levy on corporations for stock-based compensation to 1.5% from the current rate of 0.38%. That would restore the rate to its level in 2011 when the city, pulling out of recession, cut it as part of a change in its tax structure intended to keep companies from leaving,” adds the report.
The tax scheme is similar to other cities like Seattle that sought to tax large technology companies based in the region -such as Amazon- to pay for new programs aimed at tackling the region’s homeless crisis.
Read the full report at the Wall Street Journal.
CALIFORNIA CHAOS: Major Conventions ABANDON San Francisco Over ‘Safety’ Concerns
As thousands of Americans abandon San Francisco over rising crime, escalating homelessness, and rampant drug use, one major convention has decided to pull-the-plug on its semi-annual Bay Area conference; saying its members “no longer feel safe” in the region.
According to SF Gate, at least one “major medical association” has decided to cancel its annual convention in San Francisco; ending a tradition that extends back to the early 1980s.
“It’s the first time that we have had an out-and-out cancellation over the issue, and this is a group that has been coming here every three or four years since the 1980s,” said the President of San Francisco’s tourism bureau.
“The doctors group told the San Francisco delegation that while they loved the city, post-convention surveys showed their members were afraid to walk amid the open drug use, threatening behavior and mental illness that are common on the streets,” writes SF Gate.
“There was a time when the biggest obstacle to having a convention here was that it can be expensive, but now we have this new factor,” added the tourism insider.
Read the full report here.
CALIFORNIA CHAOS: Residents FLEE SAN FRANCISCO Over Sanctuary City Laws, Rampant Crime
Residents are fleeing the San Francisco area at levels not seen in more than a decade as years of liberal policies take their toll; with locals decrying rampant drug use, Sanctuary City laws, and crippling taxes as the motivating factor to pack up and abandon the City by the Bay.
According to CBS News, more people are emigrating from the Bay Area than are moving in; making the region the “number one place” for out-migration in the nation. The crisis is reaching a fever pitch, with U-Haul business owners refusing to rent vans to those leaving town, fearing they won’t be able to retrieve their vehicles.
“I loved it here when I first got here. I really loved it here. But it’s just not the same,” said one software engineer. “We don’t like it here anymore. You know, we don’t like this sanctuary state status and just the politics.”
“Silicon Valley has been this place that is growing. And it was mostly due to people relocating here and relocating from other parts of the world. That’s changing,” said another executive in the technology industry.
Despite new guidelines distributed by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, San Francisco refuses to comply with federal immigration policies; declaring itself a Sanctuary City and defying agencies determined to restrict the flow of illegal immigrants into California.
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