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File Number: 16-371 <br />Community Benefits <br />As part of its community benefits program, Blum SL offers to self-impose a five percent (5.0%) <br />gross receipts fee that it will voluntarily provide to the City’s General Fund. Blum SL further <br />states that if and when San Leandro voters adopt a cannabis business tax, that it will fully <br />comply with the tax in lieu of the voluntary gross receipts percentage contribution. Blum SL <br />also offers to create a community grants program that will “provide grants to programs and <br />institutions in which the City of San Leandro has already invested.” Blum SL identifies seven <br />program areas it plans to fund via grants in its first five years of operations. Each individual <br />award will not exceed $25,000 so that Blum SL may “impact as many program areas as <br />possible”. Blum SL also anticipates that grant amounts will increase in the second and <br />subsequent years. As part of its proposal, Blum SL also offers to provide financial support for <br />re-entry and jobs training programs, domestic violence prevention programs, youth <br />development, local community revitalization efforts, substance abuse education, foreclosure <br />prevention, housing rehabilitation, and support for the San Leandro Homeless Compact. Blum <br />SL also offers to subsidize the cost of medical cannabis to qualified low-income patients. <br />DSWC offers to provide a voluntary contribution of 9% of its gross receipts to the City’s <br />General Fund. DSWC further states that if and when San Leandro voters adopt a cannabis <br />business tax, that it will comply with the tax in lieu of the voluntary gross receipts percentage <br />contribution. DSWC also offers to create a community benefits package consisting of several <br />primary elements, which are further augmented through its proposed partnership with the <br />Davis Street Family Resource Center (“DSFRC”). More specifically, DSWC offers to provide a <br />contribution to the DSFRC for its basic needs program that will provide families and seniors <br />with emergency food, clothing and other resources. DSWC estimates approximately <br />$115,000 will be contributed annually as part of this effort, which will “free up funds that can <br />help grow the Bill McCammon Community Health Center Homeless Medical Clinic”. The <br />application materials also highlight various other DSFRC programs that will benefit financially <br />from DSWC, including: community counseling, substance abuse prevention, as well as an <br />annual community dialogue on medical cannabis. DSWC also offers a sliding fee scale to <br />low-income patients and it offers to ask DSFRC to recommend additional benefits partners <br />through an annual vetting process that will donate up to 5% of revenues. During its first year <br />of operations, DSWC commits to providing the following one-time contributions to the City of <br />San Leandro: $50,000 towards the Cherry Festival, $50,000 towards planning and business <br />development, and $50,000 for use by the Arts Commission. These contributions would <br />decrease to $10,000 annually in future years. <br /> <br />Future Tax Discussion <br />It is important to note that the City’s first dispensary permit that was awarded to Harborside <br />San Leandro (HSL) contained a provision that HSL’s community benefits commitments would <br />be nullified if San Leandro voters approved a measure to impose a medical cannabis <br />business tax. A similar condition of approval is incorporated into the attached resolution. The <br />permit awarded to HSL also contains a provision that if the City were “to award more than one <br />medical cannabis dispensary permit, all subsequent medical cannabis dispensary permits <br />awarded or approved by the City shall include no less than that which is required or <br />conditioned by this resolution.” Given that both teams offered robust community benefits <br />packages that meet or exceed the community benefits package offered by HSL, this condition <br />is addressed through the following condition of approval that is included in the attached draft <br />resolution: <br />Page 7 City of San Leandro Printed on 7/13/2016 <br />406