{"id":1786101,"date":"2022-12-25T06:06:05","date_gmt":"2022-12-25T11:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1786101"},"modified":"2022-12-25T06:48:51","modified_gmt":"2022-12-25T11:48:51","slug":"san-francisco-businesses-demand-tax-refund-over-drugs-crime-and-homelessness-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/san-francisco-businesses-demand-tax-refund-over-drugs-crime-and-homelessness-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco Businesses Demand Tax Refund Over Drugs, Crime, and Homelessness Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsan-francisco-businesses-demand-tax-refund-over-drugs-crime-and-homelessness-crisis%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1786101&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Dozens of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-san-francisco\">San Francisco<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-business-owners\">business owners<\/a> have formed a new association, demanding that the city government provide tax refunds because of out-of-control streets.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cTenderloin Business Coalition,\u201d which consists of 135 businesses and property owners in\u00a0San Francisco\u2019s Tenderloin\u00a0district, has demanded tax refunds for 2022 after dealing with a wave of rampant crime, homelessness, and drug use that has financially hurt the neighborhood,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/bayarea\/article\/Tenderloin-merchants-demand-S-F-refund-taxes-17654950.php\">The San Francisco Chronicle reported.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>An openly illicit drug trade has driven frightened customers from taxpaying neighborhood businesses, leaving the district located in the city\u2019s downtown area on the verge of collapse, said the business association.<\/p>\n<p>This is not the first community association to demand action from city hall.<\/p>\n<h2>Districts in San Francisco Demand Action Against Vagrant Behavior<\/h2>\n<p>Back in August, businesses in the Castro district also threatened to withhold paying taxes if their demands for improved street conditions were not met.<\/p>\n<p>Castro district merchants had been complaining to city officials for years about mentally ill homeless people with drug addictions devastating their businesses.<\/p>\n<p>The Castro Merchants Association\u00a0sent a letter\u00a0to city hall on Aug. 8, urging officials to \u201ctake action,\u201d as the area was \u201cstruggling.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They wrote that vagrants living on the streets \u201cregularly experience psychotic episodes\u201d and have vandalized storefronts and harassed business owners, employees, residents, and tourists.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf the city can\u2019t provide the basic services for them to become a successful business, then what are we paying for?\u201d\u00a0Dave Karraker, the association\u2019s co-leader, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/sf\/article\/Castro-merchants-threaten-to-stop-paying-taxes-if-17395928.php\">told The San Francisco Chronicle.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Mayor London Breed pledged in September to send more police to the Castro district in\u00a0response.<\/p>\n<h2>Local Business Owners Fed Up With City Hall\u2019s Weak Response<\/h2>\n<p>Meanwhile, in a petition to Breed, the Tenderloin petition signers demanded \u201ca full and complete refund of all sales tax and property taxes paid to the City of San Francisco in the fiscal year 2022\u201d after city authorities allegedly abandoned their responsibility to protect its citizens, reported The San Francisco Chronicle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe city has abandoned its commitment to provide a baseline of safety in the neighborhood, thus significant effort and investments made by the business owners and property owners to keep their blocks safe and clean have come to nothing. It is clear the state of the neighborhood is declining. We represent that this is a violation of the City\u2019s implicit bargain with the taxpayer: pay your taxes and the city will ensure safe streets,\u201d the business coalition wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe neighborhood is not safe because the streets are controlled by drug dealers. Drug dealers operate in very clear and obvious ways to any rational observer. \u2026 They prey on residents, openly steal from Tenderloin businesses, they intimidate and extort passersby and all of this behavior goes unchecked by law enforcement,\u201d the group explained.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur customers are unwilling to enter the neighborhood to patronize our businesses,\u201d the petition added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe result is a catastrophic loss of revenue for the small businesses that are vital to the health and safety of the neighborhood. Due to this untenable situation, businesses are closing and there is a real and palpable fear that the neighborhood is now on the verge of collapse,\u201d they warned.<\/p>\n<p>The Tenderloin Business Coalition has demanded an immediate crackdown on the drug dealers who have invaded the Tenderloin by applying \u201congoing and rigorous law enforcement\u201d and a meeting with Breed within the week to hear her \u201cplan to take back the streets from the drug dealers and produce permanent results.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Mayor Promises to Address Homelessness and Drug Addict Crisis<\/h2>\n<p>The mayor was forced to declare a state of emergency in 2021 over the rampant drug use in the Tenderloin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMayor Breed has been clear on our need to end open air drug dealing in the Tenderloin,\u201d the mayor\u2019s office <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcbayarea.com\/news\/local\/san-francisco-tenderloin-business-owners\/3106773\/\">told NBC Bay Area.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe mayor knows this is challenging work, and she is partnering with the district attorney, who is focused on bringing prosecutions and supporting the\u00a0police department\u00a0to make the arrests.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The mayor has promised to alleviate San Francisco\u2019s overwhelmed 911 call system regarding low-level homeless incidents by deploying community workers, instead of the police, to handle the response.<\/p>\n<p>Breed said that the city is also hamstrung by legal limitations that prevent mentally disturbed people from being put under court-ordered treatment.<\/p>\n<p>She said that the city will utilize a newly\u00a0created state program called \u201cCare Court,\u201d which would force them to get help along with the backing of the local counties, starting in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Tenderloin business owner Chai Saechao told NBC Bay Area that he was looking forward to celebrating the five-year anniversary of his store, \u201cPlant Therapy,\u201d next year.<\/p>\n<p>However, he said that it was harder to stay in business in the district, making him worried.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of businesses have closed down and you know, the best restaurants have closed down. So, it\u2019s very sad to see,\u201d Saechao said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"author_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/author-bryan-jung\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/ttl7daySGw_WEB_BrianJung.jpg\" alt=\"Bryan Jung\"   style=\"display:none\"><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p>Bryan S. Jung is a native and resident of New York City with a background in politics and the legal industry. He graduated from Binghamton University.\n<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dozens of San Francisco business owners have formed a new association, demanding that the city government provide tax refunds because of out-of-control streets. The \u201cTenderloin Business Coalition,\u201d which consists of 135 businesses and property owners in\u00a0San Francisco\u2019s Tenderloin\u00a0district, has demanded tax refunds for 2022 after dealing with a wave of rampant crime, homelessness, and drug &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1695376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[6962,10847,5458,6002,7204,6170,4368,7137,4641,11561,3972,11701,3819,7285,8360],"class_list":["post-1786101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report","tag-the","tag-and","tag-bongino","tag-businesses","tag-crime","tag-crisis","tag-demand","tag-drugs","tag-francisco","tag-homelessness","tag-over","tag-refund","tag-report","tag-san","tag-tax"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1786101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1786101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1786101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1695376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1786101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1786101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1786101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}