Rules Committee sends commercial vacancy‑tax ordinance to full Board, approves duplicate for penalty‑waiver amendment

The Rules Committee considered an ordinance to amend the Business and Tax Regulations Code to allow the Treasurer and Tax Collector to disclose certain information about the commercial vacancy tax and to improve compliance. Amanda Fried of the Treasurer’s Office said sharing data would inform enforcement and help prospective businesses understand obligations tied to prior vacancies, and described an amendment to waive non‑filing penalties for the first two tax years to prioritize education and targeted enforcement.

Chair Aaron Peskin said the Board had delayed Proposition D’s implementation during the pandemic and that the vacancy tax became effective on Jan. 1, 2023; the committee accepted Fried’s amendment conceptually. The committee voted to duplicate File No. 220540: the original file was sent to the full Board with a positive recommendation as a committee report, while the duplicated file—amended to add a provision that penalties for failure to file will not apply for the 2022 and 2023 tax years—was amended and continued to the call of the chair for further language work.

The committee recorded roll-call votes (Supervisor Chan, Vice Chair Mandelman, Chair Peskin) and adopted the amendment and continuance without objection. The committee specified that the penalty waiver applies only to penalties for late or non‑filing, not to the tax itself.