San Francisco Officials Announce New Measures To Help Businesses During Shelter Order
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Mayor London Breed on Tuesday announced new measures to further support the San Francisco's businesses, as they struggle to survive during the coronavirus pandemic.
The new measures include the deferral of the business registration fee, extending the 2020 business registration fee deadline from May 31, 2020, to Sept. 30, 2020.
COMPLETE COVERAGE: CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
The measure will lead to $49 million in deferrals among 89,000 businesses, according to the mayor's office.
Breed and Treasurer Jose Cisneros are working to notify businesses of the deferral option.
Additionally, Breed announced the city will further delay the collection of unified license fees until Sept. 30, 2020. The unified license fees can include charges from city departments like the Entertainment Commission, Police Department, Fire Department, and Public Health Department to restaurants and food businesses, bars, convenience stores, hotels, tour operators, and many small retailers.
The measure will result in $14 million in deferrals impacting 11,000 the city departments.
Back in March, Breed first delayed the fee collection for three months.
"Many businesses in San Francisco are struggling with a loss of revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic and we must do everything we can to support them and their employees during this challenging time," Breed said in a statement.
"Deferring the collection of these fees provides some immediate financial relief for business as we continue to try to help them stay afloat and take care of their employees," she said.
Cisneros said, "Our business community is being hit hard financially, and we must continue to take aggressive steps to support them and their employees through this crisis."
Other measures Breed and Cisneros have recently taken to help small businesses include providing the businesses that have up to $10 million in gross receipts with tax deferrals through February 2021; offering $10 million for the Workers and Families First Paid Sick Leave Program; and offering a $9 million Emergency Loan Fund that provides up to $50,000 in zero-interest loans for individual small businesses.
