New Community Benefit Districts Spark Controversy

In order to be formed, CBDs must first prove that 30 percent of property owners in the area are interested in the idea. The Board of Supervisors must then authorize an election to take place in the community, the result of which will determine whether the CBD will move forward or not.

Yesterday, the Government Audit and Oversight Committee took up the issue as to whether to allow elections occur in both the Fillmore and Mid-Market districts. In both instances, members of the Committee had concerns about the districts moving forward.

Supervisor Aaron Peksin, who drafted the initial legislation allowing for the creation of CBDs, first raised his concern that the economic analysis of the legislation creating the districts was being waived. This waiver comes at the urging of those supporting the districts, who argue that in order to meet a deadline for obtaining tax funding during the next year, the CBDs must be approved extremely fast.

However, many of the people supporting the formation of the CBDs, including the Chamber of Commerce and Committee on Jobs, are the same people currently suing the city to disallow such waivers to ever occur. Peskin called this fact both “unfortunate and ironic.”

The fact that both CBDs were racing against a deadline sparked the majority of the rest of the concerns surrounding the districts. Peskin and Supervisors Ross Mirkarimi and Tom Ammiano all voiced concern that some members of the communities had contacted the Board and declared their opposition to the districts. Their complaints centered around being uninvolved in the process and uncertain of the effects a CBD would have on their neighborhood.

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