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PEOPLE'S BUDGET COLLABORATIVE FINDS THE MISSING CITY SURPLUS!

by People's Budget Collaborative (nlgriva [at] pacbell.net)
The People's Budget Collaborative will hold a press conference to release their detailed findings on a city budget surplus that city officials claim doesn't exist.
People's Budget Collaborative
c/o National Lawyers Guild
558 Capp Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 285-1055

NEWS ADVISORY-FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information, contact:
Riva Enteen, National Lawyers Guild, (415) 285-1055
Robert Lehman, San Franciscans for Tax Justice, (415) 584-5434
Tiny Grey-Garcia, Poor News Network, (415) 863-6306

PEOPLE'S BUDGET COLLABORATIVE FINDS THE MISSING CITY SURPLUS!

When: Monday March 5, 2001 -- Noon
Where: City Hall Steps (Polk Street entrance)

[SAN FRANCISCO] The People's Budget Collaborative will hold a press conference to release their detailed findings on a city budget surplus that city officials claim doesn't exist.

Despite the doom and gloom emanating from City Hall, the Controller's most recent report projects an $82.9 million budget surplus at the end of the 2000-2001 fiscal year. This surplus is based on actual tax revenues received, above last year's actual revenues.

o Hotel tax revenues are $16.1 million higher than expected.
o Property transfer tax revenues are up $15.9 million.
o Sales tax revenues are up $14.8 million.
o Property tax revenues are up $11.1 million.
o Utility tax revenues are up $9.4 million.
o Business tax revenue estimates are not yet in, but are also expected to be up.

The People's Budget Collaborative has identified additional ways the City
could save money:

o The current administration has added 330 new "special assistants."
Since the end of Mayor Jordan's term, 330 new "special assistants," have been added, increasing the number of positions from 243 to 573 positions. Two-thirds of these positions are non-civil service and pay from $75,000 to $103,000 per year. The salary cost alone of these new "special assistants" is over $20.5 million. Their benefits raise the cost still higher. Many of these special assistants went on leave to work for the Mayor's candidates in the last election. What are all these mayoral appointees actually doing for the City and who are they accountable to?

o Implement City audits that have been gathering dust on the shelves.
o Audits of the Police Department in 1996 and 1998 by the Supervisors' Budget Analyst suggested changes which would save the City an estimated $19 million per year.
o An audit of the Department of Parking and Traffic in 1999 suggested changes which would save the City an estimated $8.8 to $ 12.9 million per year.

Little has been done to implement these two audit proposals. Many other audits are gathering dust as well. When is the City going to get serious about government efficiency and holding departments accountable to the taxpayers? Currently, the City is conducting new departmental audits. We demand that these audits truly measure "performance" and efficiency, and that the City's budget reflects these recommendations.

Fundamental to preserving the fiscal health of the City is beating back the raid from the downtown corporate elite on the City treasury, under the guise of a lawsuit on the "constitutionality" of the City's business tax. These corporate pirates, who are demanding refunds of their business taxes in the hundreds of millions of dollars, must be fought both legally and politically. Why should PG&E, Chevron, Bechtel, Levi Strauss, Hearst Corp., Safeway, Charles Schwab, Union Pacific, Pacific Bell and Nieman Marcus, among others, be allowed to pay NO TAXES while the rest of us must shoulder the burden? In this light, the recently proposed legislation to repeal the gross receipts tax appears ill-advised.

Given that the San Francisco economy is strong and still growing, the People's Budget Collaborative asserts that sufficient funding exists to fully address the needs of our underserved populations.
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