The Now and Future of Post-COVID San Francisco

Last month, the Hawaii Chamber of Commerce of Northern California (HCCNC) hosted a virtual “Talk Story” on the Now and Future for Post-COVID San Francisco, with Rodney Fong, President and CEO of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and co-chair of the City and County of San Francisco COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force. The talk covered themes from business, real estate, long-term policy implications, infrastructure, and tax measures on the ballot in November.

The event features guest appearances by Sherry Menor-McNamara, President & CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, Jay Cheng, Public Policy Director at the SF Chamber, Eric Tao, Founder and Board Member of the HCCNC, Kurt Osaki, Board Member at the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii and founder of the HCCNC. Please see the event recording and notes below (video starts partway into introductions, our apologies).

Key Takeaways and Notes from the event included:

  • The importance of the sense of community and using our businesses, organizations, and nonprofits to provide it in hard times and especially in San Francisco.

  • SF Chamber have worked to delay fees and property tax payments, and ensure insurance business interruption claims.

  • There are many measures on the ballet in November which will help to ensure the viability of small businesses.

  • 153k+ unemployment claims in San Francisco means that we need to be focused on jobs, jobs, jobs.

  • SF and HI both drastically affected due to them being hubs of tourism which has been hit especially hard due to COVID-19.

  • SF has gone through a W-shaped recovery meaning multiple rounds of opening to close, opening to close…this makes recovery especially hard.

  • Downtown San Francisco has many problems due to combination of homelessness, drug addiction, and other problems. Innovation, creativity, and out of the box thinking is needed to fix these. Honolulu has these challenges as well.

  • SF has been the golden child for the last 10-15 years from its success. The bubble has burst. We now need to focus on the economic development process, focused on value props to attract and retain businesses.

  • Work from home (WFH) trend was coming, but, it’s now accelerated more than ever. This will have a dramatic effect and there is a need to create incentives for business to stay and grow, across industries.

  • City Hall is not immune to COVID. There is currently a fight for $250M in pay raises that may lead to layoffs or other ramifications.

  • SF has a city budget of $12B, larger than 13 state governments. This has doubled over the last decade. Have things become 2x as good over the last 10 years?

  • In order for government, unlike business, to cover this, they need to raise taxes. There are 3 important tax measures on the November ballot. A Transfer Tax, a Compensation-Ratio ‘CEO’ tax, and a Gross Receipts Tax Overhaul.

  • Transfer Tax - Doubles the transfer tax on any properties valued over $10M. This will have a big impact on housing production. Will make building more expensive in SF. Also applies to whenever you renew or sign a new lease.

  • Compensation-Ratio Tax - For companies with a 100x differential between the highest paid and median employee, taxes will increase. Mostly does not affect tech companies, instead potentially hurting retail, hospitality, and manufacturing companies. Tech company employees make more money, but a company like Adidas would have entry level workers in SF, but a CEO in Berlin.

  • Gross Receipts Tax Overhaul - Some COVID-19 will receive a tax break, up to 50% over the first few years. Many businesses are looking forward to this. But, tech, banking, and legal will have a 20% increase. Biotech, real estate, and other industries will have a 15% increase in coming years.

Please visit our organizations at:

Hawaii Chamber of Commerce of Northern California

hccnc.org | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn

San Francisco Chamber of Commerce

sfchamber.com | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn

Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii

cochawaii.org | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn

For inquires relating to the upcoming ballot initiatives with Save SF Jobs:

savesfjobs.com | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn

If any questions or comments, please feel free to reach out to us at jcheng@sfchamber.com