Board reviews civil grand jury small-business report; committee directs clerk on responses and requests BLA cost analysis

The Government Audit and Oversight Committee received the civil grand jury's report 'Taking Care of Business' on Nov. 2 and took action to respond to several recommendations, including financial analysis requests and implementation timetables.

Rob Chancellor, a member of the grand jury, reviewed the jury's methods and principal recommendations: extend the first-year-free program beyond its pilot term and consider making it permanent; preserve and extend portions of Proposition H (30-day permit processing and neighborhood-notification provisions) for eligible businesses; develop better cross-departmental data and verification to track eligibility and billing errors; and expand outreach and marketing to help small-business formation.

The mayor's liaison, Tom Paulino, said the mayor supports the program but noted midyear budget reductions; the committee's chair asked the Budget and Legislative Analyst (BLA) to study the financial impact of making first-year-free permanent and to produce a report by mid-2024. Director Tang of the Office of Small Business said the office has leveraged existing resources and partnerships for outreach and emphasized prioritizing direct assistance over new marketing expenditures until funding is available.

Supervisor Catherine Stephanie read a draft resolution directing the clerk to respond to the presiding judge: the board would agree with several findings, partially disagree with the perception finding (citing existing outreach and programs), request a BLA analysis for permanent funding of first-year-free and for a federated technology study, and report back to the court with implementation timelines for certain recommendations. The committee voted to approve the clerk's response language and to file the hearing; later the committee rescinded an earlier vote and continued aspects of the item to the call of the chair while finalizing language.