Supervisor Jake McGoldrick: Improving Services, Programs

According to a recent report by the controller's office, the city of San Francisco has an additional $7.68 million of funding for the '06-'07 fiscal year budget.

Of this amount, $3.65 million is available for the General Fund, which is our primary funding source for the city's programs and projects. This is great news given the budget shortfalls from previous years.

In order for the City to provide quality public services like public transportation, we have to enforce the laws that are on the books. For example, the city charges a 25 percent parking tax on owners that operate parking stations. The parking tax is divided, 40 percent for Muni and 60 percent for the general fund.

With the recent service cuts and increased transit rider fares last year, Muni is in dire need of additional revenue. I recently introduced legislation that would help the City fully collect parking taxes.

Currently, most parking lot operators must use revenue control equipment (RCE) to issue parking receipts. However, the City does not have a way to check the equipment for compliance.

My legislation outlines the parking revenue control equipment requirements for each type of parking lot, which will allow the treasurer (the tax collector) to improve his auditing function. It also creates an inspections scheme that assists with both revenue collection and consumer protection, whereby, the Treasurer/Tax Collector will conduct spot inspections to ensure that equipment is compliant, functioning, and that parking operators are forwarding tax money to the City.

The legislation also calls for a complete citywide survey of parking lot operations so that we have updated data for more than 600 parking facilities located and operating in the City.

The legislation affects the City's ability to protect consumers. Consumers who encounter malfunctioning equipment may not be issued a parking receipt for their payment. There may be a discrepancy between what is collected at the parking stations and what is actually reported to the City. Unless the City regularly conducts inspections and performs audits, we will not know whether we are fully collecting the parking taxes that are due.

This parking tax enforcement scheme will generate more revenues and provide consumer protection. This, in turn, will improve current city programs and services.

Neighborhood Beautification
For the last couple of years, my office has received complaints from constituents stating that they were tired of seeing empty garbage containers left out in public sight for much longer than needed for the weekly garbage pickup.

Some people said that their neighbors would leave their garbage receptacles out in public view year round, making this an issue of urban blight, health and safety.

This is a citywide problem that definitely needed to be addressed. Therefore, I have sponsored legislation that would effectively address this issue.

The legislation requires that all garbage, recycling and compost containers be returned to an enclosed area or other area that keeps the containers out of plain sight when viewed from any public right of way. I believe this legislation will address the health, safety and quality-of-life concerns that have been brought to my attention.

The director of public works may grant a written waiver of the enclosure requirement based on hardship, feasibility or practicality. The director has the sole discretion to issue the waiver. For more information, please call my office at 554-7410.

San Francisco Supervisor Jake McGoldrick represents District 1.