2024. 07.22 Speaker Cards-PC - Laserfiche WebLink

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675 Seaport Boulevard, Redwood City, CA 94063 July 19, 2024 SENT BY EMAIL Mayor Jeff Gee Vice Mayor Lissette Espinoza-Garnica Members of the City Council City of Redwood City 1017 Middlefield Road Redwood City, CA 94063 Subject: Redwood City Business License Tax Dear Mayor Gee, Vice Mayor Espinoza-Garnica, and City Councilmembers: Seaport Industrial Association (SIA) offers the following comments on Redwood City’s proposed business license tax ballot measure. SIA members include the industrial businesses along Seaport Boulevard and Blomquist Street, and the Port of Redwood City. SIA members have followed the development of the proposal, and we understand the urgent need to address the City’s structural budget deficit. We participated in a productive meeting with council members to provide our input, as did many others in the business community. In summary: • The increased rates for retail businesses in the port area are reasonable. A headcount model reflects a nexus between taxes paid and services received, and the new rates will not have the serious adverse impacts of the original proposal. Thank you for listening and responding to our input. • SIA members are willing to pay their fair share of an updated business license tax to support essential services. While our companies contribute significant revenue from other sources (sales tax, property tax, utility users’ tax, etc.), we know that the current business license tax is outdated. • SIA members appreciate your rejection of a gross receipts model. We detailed our objections to this approach in our comments to you last month. • We have remaining concerns about the implementation process, potential impacts on the broader business environment, and divisions within the community if the current proposal goes to the ballot.