Funds would come from parts of city budget that outperformed expectations, such as property taxes.
Lily Janiak February 23, 2021Updated: February 26, 2021, 10:45 pm
San Francisco Mayor London Breed: “When we talk about our recovery from this pandemic, it’s essential that we include the arts.” Photo: Gabrielle Lurie, The Chronicle 2020
San Francisco Mayor London Breed introduced a funding proposal to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Feb. 23, to give one-time support of $16.3 million to arts companies that would have been affected by a more than 80% shortfall in hotel tax revenue.
In the current fiscal year, the city anticipated generating $25.9 million for the arts via the hotel tax but collected only $3.9 million, as tourism nosedived due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The mayor’s proposed backfill, which is co-sponsored by Supervisors Aaron Peskin, Hillary Ronen, Shamann Walton, Matt Haney and Catherine Stefani, would make up for most but not all of the deficit, d