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City of San Leandro <br />Meeting Date: July 1, 2013 <br />Staff Report <br />Agenda Section:File Number:13-341 ACTION ITEMS <br />Agenda Number:10.A. <br />TO:City Council <br />FROM:Chris Zapata <br />City Manager <br />BY:Chris Zapata <br />City Manager <br />FINANCE REVIEW:Not Applicable <br />TITLE:Staff Report for Council Discussion / Direction on Business License Tax <br />Holiday for New Businesses <br />SUMMARY <br />At the June 17, 2013 City Council meeting, Mayor Cassidy proposed and the City Council <br />unanimously supported, directing staff to provide a report on the creation of a business <br />license tax holiday for new businesses that open in San Leandro. The proposed holiday <br />would be for a specific amount of time, such as six months or one year. The intent of this <br />initiative is to grow the city’s revenues by aggressively attracting new investment , employment <br />and services. <br />BACKGROUND <br />The City Council has stated goals of fiscal sustainability and program development that <br />advance our economic position and reflect innovation. These goals have taken front stage in <br />recent years due to economic challenges globally and the demise of redevelopment locally. <br />Given that cities rely heavily on sales tax revenue to provide vital services and build projects, <br />there is a constant need to work toward revenue diversification and enhancement. To <br />address the challenge of limited revenue and growing costs of providing services, San <br />Leandro has taken a number of aggressive steps to spur economic activity including: <br />·Recruitment of Kaiser Hospital project <br />·Private-Public Partnership to begin and expand Lit San Leandro, and the creation of a <br />new role of Chief Innovation Officer to support this key initiative <br />·Downtown San Leandro investment, such as the parking garage, pedestrian and <br />lighting enhancements and seed funding for the formation of a community benefit <br />district <br />·Encouraging housing and office development around downtown BART Station <br />·Execution of a public planning process for the Shoreline development and <br />Page 1 City of San Leandro Printed on 6/25/2013