Proposition L - Business Tax Based on Comparison of Top Executive's Pay to Employees’ Pay

Summary

A "YES" vote on Proposition L is a vote in favor of imposing a gross receipts tax between 0.1% and 0.6% or an administrative office tax between 0.4% and 2.4% on any business whose highest-paid executive earns more than 100 times the median pay for an employee working for that business.

A "NO" vote on Proposition L is a vote against imposing a gross receipts tax between 0.1% and 0.6% or an administrative office tax between 0.4% and 2.4% on any business whose highest-paid executive earns more than 100 times the median pay for an employee working for that business.

Arguments

"The measure does not specify how the city/county would determine whether a taxpayer’s calculation of the ratio is correct. Since the tax is based on employees who spend a majority of their work time within the city/county, taxpayers would have to track where each employee performs their work to determine whether to include them in the calculation. With many employees working outside the office due to the pandemic, this would prove nearly impossible and would raise privacy issues for employees working from home.", in opposition to Proposition L (Learn more)

"The pandemic isn't over. Cities around the country are preparing for another spike in the curve by stocking up on medical equipment and hiring nurses, doctors, first responders, and other essential healthcare workers. San Francisco needs to be ready. Prop L is expected to raise over $140 million every year which would allow the City to hire hundreds of nurses, doctors, and first responders.", in support of Proposition L (Learn more)

"The Overpaid Executive Tax only applies to large corporations that pay their executives 100 times more than their average worker. Businesses can avoid the tax by paying their executives less or by simply raising their employees' wages.", in support of Proposition L (Learn more)

"While everyday people are struggling to make rent and pay bills, CEOs and other top executives have been making millions of dollars during the pandemic. Income inequality has grown even greater as the wealthiest members of society take more and more of the profits for themselves. Prop L will ensure that CEOs making millions of dollars a year pay their fair share back to our communities.", in support of Proposition L (Learn more)

"Employees' salaries are based on experience and on value to a company. By enacting such a bizarre hocus-pocus tax on executive salaries as Proposition L seeks to impose, the incentive for hiring new entry-level employees (or retraining current employees due to COVID-19 changes in business) would diminish. In other words, companies would reduce or stop hiring low-level employees as an snwer to this measure.", in opposition to Proposition L (Learn more)

"The sentiment of many City Hall leaders is that the technology sector has created economic imbalances -- yet these same leaders ignore the fact that state of the art advanced medical research facilities and the financial services sectors have a large impact and employee base in the city. An unhealthy obsession with social media and information technology, which city hall leaders suffer from, is blinding them to the reality behind the salary structures.", in opposition to Proposition L (Learn more)

"The Controller's statement outlines clearly the unreliability and high volatility of the proposed CEO tax. Prop L won't solve San Francisco's looming budget crisis; it's a false, mistaken tactic for new revenue.", in opposition to Proposition L (Learn more)

Measure Details