This fall, voters in San Francisco will be confronted with 15 ballot measures—a proposed vehicle registration fee, a proposed $46 million earthquake retrofit bond, six proposed Charter amendments and seven proposed ordinances.

Proposition N would increase the real property transfer tax for buildings selling for $5,000,000 or more. It was only two years ago that the tax was doubled from .75 percent for each $1,000 of value to 1.5 percent.

The San Francisco Association of REALTORS® analyzes ballot measures appearing on the San Francisco municipal ballot and makes position recommendations on them.

The criteria used by the Association to determine a position recommendation on a measure is always the same: The effect of the measure on owners of real property and the city in general.

The following is a list of measures appearing on the November ballot in San Francisco, with the Association’s position recommendation on each of them shown in blue.

Measures Appearing on San Francisco Municipal Ballot
November 2010

AA—Vehicle Registration Fee—VOTE “NO”

Would amend the San Francisco Business and Tax Regulations Code to adopt a $10 increase in the annual vehicle registration fee for each motor vehicle registered in the City and County of San Francisco to fund congestion and pollution mitigation programs and projects.

A—Earthquake Retrofit Bond ($46,150,000)—VOTE “NO”

Would provide deferred loans and/or grants to pay the costs of seismic retrofits to multi-story wood structures that are at significant risk of substantial damage and collapse during an earthquake and authorizing landlords to pass-through 50 percent of the resulting property tax increase to residential tenants.

B—City Retirement and Health Plans—No Position

Would amend the City Charter to enact “The Sustainable City Employee Benefits Reform Act.” Under the Act, all active employees who are uniformed members of the police and fire departments shall contribute 10 percent of each payment of compensation from participating Retirement System employers to the Retirement System, to be credited to the individual account of the member. All active miscellaneous employees who are members of the Retirement System shall contribute 9 percent of each payment of compensation from participating Retirement System employers to the Retirement System, to be credited to the individual account of the member.

The Act would govern any memorandum of understanding or collective bargaining agreement between the City and County of San Francisco and any employee organization representing actively employed members of the system reached after the November 2010 election. The City would not be able to pay or otherwise “pick-up” any portion of the employee contribution to the Retirement System.

In addition, employer contributions for employee and dependent medical care coverage would be limited. The City would be authorized to pay or otherwise “pick-up” no more than 50 percent of the cost of each level of dependent coverage.

Other provisions would apply.

C—Mayoral Appearances at Board Meetings—No Position

Would amend the City Charter to require the Mayor to appear personally at one regularly-scheduled meeting of the Board of Supervisors each month to engage in formal policy discussions with members of the Board and to authorize the Board to adopt rules and regulations.

D—Non-Citizen Voting in School Board Elections—No Position

Would amend the City Charter to authorize San Francisco residents 18 years of age or older who are parents, legal guardians or caregivers of children in the San Francisco Unified School District to vote in elections for the Board of Education, regardless of whether the residents are United States citizens.

E—Election Day Voter Registration—VOTE “NO”

Would amend the City Charter to establish Election Day voter registration for exclusively municipal elections.

F—Health Service Board Elections—No Position

Would amend the City Charter to shorten, on a one-time basis, the term of one Health Service Board member from five years to three years, and the term of another Health Service Board member from five to two years, so that Board terms will expire in pairs in the future and can be filled during the same Board election.

G—Transit Operator Wages—VOTE “YES”

Would amend the City Charter relating to the wages, hours, benefits, and terms and conditions of employment of employees of the Municipal Transportation Agency to allow the Agency to utilize the City’s collective bargaining agreements with any employee organization representing the Agency’s workforce.

H—Local Elected Officials on Political Party Committees—VOTE “YES”

Would prohibit dual office holding in a City elective office and an elected board of a political party county central committee.

I—Saturday Voting—No Position

Would allow voting on Saturday.

J—Hotel Tax Clarification and Temporary Increase—VOTE “NO”

Would impose a temporary additional surcharge on the hotel room tax for General Fund purposes measured at two percent of the room rent, to sunset in 2014.

K—Hotel Tax Clarification and Definitions—VOTE “YES”

Would clarify who is responsible for collecting and remitting third-party taxes and consolidate definitions and amend the definition of “Permanent Resident.”

L—Sitting or Lying on Sidewalks—VOTE “YES”

Would make it unlawful to sit or lie down upon a public sidewalk, or any object placed upon a public sidewalk in the City and County of San Francisco, during the hours between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. Exceptions would apply.

M—Community Policing and Foot Patrols—VOTE “NO”

Would establish the Community Policing Policy and Foot Beat Patrol Program and supplant any City ordinance the voters approve at the November 2, 2010 election that bans sitting or lying on public sidewalks.

N—Real Property Transfer Tax—VOTE “NO”

Would increase rates of the transfer tax, as follows:

    When the consideration or value of the interest of real property conveyed

• At least $5,000,000.00 and less than $10,000,000.00, a tax at a rate of $20 for each $1,000 or fractional part thereof for the entire value or consideration, including, but not limited to, any portion of such value or consideration that is less than $5,000,000; or

• At least $10,000,000.00 and above, a tax at a rate of $25.00 for each $1,000 or fractional part thereof for the entire value or consideration, including, but not limited to, any portion of such value or consideration that is less than $10,000,000.

Association Endorses Supervisorial Candidates

This November’s supervisorial election in San Francisco will be of critical importance to everyone who owns real property or operates a business in the city. Seats on the Board of Supervisors for all of the even-numbered districts will become vacant. Three supervisors are being termed out—Chris Daly in District Six, Bevan Dufty in District Eight and Sophie Maxwell in District Ten.

The Association has endorsed eight candidates, each of whom it believes will take a balanced view issues concerning real property issues and the city in general. The candidates are running in five districts—Districts Two, Four, Six, Eight and Ten. In three districts—Districts Two, Eight and Ten—the Association has endorsed two candidates.

To enable interested persons to become familiar with the positions of the endorsed candidates and participate in the campaign activities of candidates of their choice, links to the web sites of the candidates endorsed by the Association appear below.

Supervisorial Candidates

District Two—Marina, Cow Hollow, Pacific Heights, Seacliff, Lake District, Presidio Heights, Jordan Park, Laurel Heights, Presidio, and part of Russian Hill

Mark Farrell and Janet Reilly
http://www.markfarrell.com/about.php
http://www.janetreilly.com/

District Four—Central Sunset, Outer Sunset, Parkside, Outer Parkside, and Pine Lake Park

Supervisor Carmen Chu
http://www.carmenchu2010.com/

District Six—Union Square, Tenderloin, Civic Center, Cathedral Hill, South of Market, South Beach, Mission Bay, North Mission, Treasure Island, Yerba Buena Island, Alcatraz, and part of Hayes Valley

Theresa Sparks
http://www.sparksfor6.com/

District Eight—The Castro, Noe Valley, Diamond Heights, Glen Park, Corona Heights, Eureka Valley, Dolores Heights, Mission Dolores, Duboce Triangle, and Buena Vista Park

Scott Wiener and Rebecca Prozan
http://www.scott2010.com/
http://www.rebeccaprozan.com/

District Ten—Potrero Hill, Central Waterfront, Dogpatch, Bayview-Hunters Point, Bayview Heights, India Basin, Silver Terrace, Candlestick Point, Visitacion Valley, Little Hollywood, Sunnydale, McLaren Park, and part of Portola

Steve Moss and Lynette Sweet
http://www.mossfordistrict10.com/
http://www.sweetforsupervisor.com/

Not Registered to Vote?

If you are a San Francisco resident and not registered to vote, you can do so online by clicking on the following link: http://www.sfgov.org/site/elections_index.asp?id=60515