Midterm Elections

San Francisco Voters Approve Business Tax To Help Area's Homeless

Proposition C passed Tuesday night with about 60 percent of the vote.

San Francisco Voters Approve Business Tax To Help Area's Homeless
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San Francisco voters approved a business tax that will help pay for housing and services for the area's homeless population. 

Proposition C passed Tuesday night with about 60 percent of the vote. 

The proposition requires businesses with over $50 million in gross annual receipts to pay a yearly tax of 0.175 percent to 0.69 percent on those receipts. Alternatively, certain businesses with more than $1 billion in gross annual receipts and administrative offices in San Francisco will have to pay a yearly tax equal to 1.5 percent of payroll expenses. 

The measure made national news when Salesforce's Marc Benioff and Twitter's Jack Dorsey traded blows over it. Benioff sank nearly $8 million into the Prop C campaign. Dorsey opposed it.

The added taxes will reportedly double the city's current budget to help the homeless. The San Francisco Chronicle reports the tax will bring in an estimated $250 million to $300 million a year. It's also the largest tax increase in the city's history.