HOTEL FAIRNESS INITIATIVE is on its way to the November ballot in San Francisco!

Labor, Avalos Launch Hotel Revenue Measure
Paul Hogarth
May 19, 2010
Today's Budget Committee meeting at the Board of Supervisors will review Governor Schwarzenegger's latest May revise of the state budget, and what it could mean for San Francisco. It will be depressing, and may cloud the rough budget season ahead with talk of "inevitable" cuts. But at a City Hall rally yesterday, Budget Chair John Avalos joined the Central Labor Council and UNITE-HERE Local 2 (along with four of his colleagues) to file a November ballot measure to close loopholes in the city's Hotel Tax – and for the first time in 15 years, raise it by 2%. While the Board could put it on the ballot, they plan to collect signatures for it to qualify – laying the groundwork for a genuine grassroots campaign. Even as the City struggles badly with revenue, the Hotel Tax is doing better than expected – and the measure would strengthen the City Attorney's case against online travel companies who are ripping us off. As Mayor Gavin Newsom runs for statewide office, will he endorse this to prove that San Francisco is advancing solutions?
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Make Hotels Pay Their Share
Martha Hawthorne
May 18, 2010
If you ride Muni, educate your children in public schools, or rely on city services, you've already felt the impact of cuts to the city budget over the past few years, and it could get worse. San Francisco is facing a $522 million deficit this year. It's expected to swell above $700 million in the next two years. Current budget balancing proposals include laying off teachers and nurses and cutting after-school programs, youth job training, street cleaning, public safety, recreation, and health services for San Franciscans and visitors alike.

While city residents and employees have sacrificed, certain Internet hotel booking sites are trying to evade more than $70 million in legally required hotel taxes. Additionally, airline companies that use San Francisco hotels to house their flight crews overnight are attempting to escape paying the hotel tax, depriving the city of millions of dollars in revenue annually.
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