San Francisco is home to many of the world’s largest high-tech corporations, including eBay, Facebook, Google and Apple. As great as that is for the city to be able to brag about, it is not so good for many of the residents of San Francisco as they struggle to cope with the rising housing and living costs, partly due to the big technology boom that the Silicon Valley is responsible for.
Activists and supporters are currently pushing for there to be a 1.5 percent payroll tax applied to technology companies to help balance the economy and alleviate some of the homelessness issues. People are being made homeless because of the high rise in real estate costs in the area which is mainly due to the rich Silicon Valley companies and the wealthy staff they can afford to employ. With many of Silicon Valley’s employees earning on average $175,000 per year, and the average home in San Francisco costing over $1 million, many people who have been resident in the area their whole life are being forced out due to lack of funds.
By introducing the tech tax, it is estimated that around $140 million per year will be accumulated and is a way for the city to recoup tax breaks that they have previously allowed for some companies, such as Twitter. But, things are not looking too hopeful at the moment. The proposal to introduce the tax will need a majority vote in November by the Board Of Supervisors and currently, has just over a quarter of supporters.
Although technology companies are reluctant to comment on the tax, for the time being, many other skeptics feel that this is not the way to go and the introduction of the levy will not change the homelessness situation in San Francisco, but will just chase away the good workers and the well-paid jobs. Debates around the issue are likely to continue for some time, at least until the ballot comes to fruition in November. But one thing that is clear is that there is a big deficit the city needs to address, and if the tax is not introduced then making cuts will be the only way to solve the issue.
Story Via; NY Times
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