Near the San Francisco's grand City Hall, right in the middle of transients, drugs and crime, world’s trendy social media company has promised settle in such neighborhood, offering urban rebirth in exchange for a tax break. Twitter has asked for tax incentives before it brings its offices to such wrecked streets. Initially the mayor is very much positive and looks forward for such plan, although other progressive politicians, including the city's largest public employee union, have united to demand to call of such proposal.
| Current Twitter Office Building |
Protesters have claimed such agreement to be ‘poorly crafted giveaway to the rich.’ The major conflict is the city's payroll tax. One and the only city of the California having such taxing system is San Francisco, it exercise its business tax depending on the no. of employees of the company at their pay grades, rather than depending the investment and worth of the company.
Twitter had definitely caught fire in one summer and now keeps, from what started off as several employees, went on to few hundreds. Once after its worth was understood, thanks to countless investors pouring in the money, Twitter is most likely assumed to grow on to more than 3,000 full time employees. Twitter actually now needs an ample space for the offices of that many people.
According to an announcement of Mayor Ed Lee earlier this month, that according to him this idea looks like benefiting for both the sides. Twitter has already signed the letter of intent claiming for a 6 year long lease of huge office space in the area. However, now the only stipulation they have implemented is on the city, which they have asked to exempt them from paying any additional payroll taxes for the additional hires they are going to keep after shifting the offices.
Lee seems to have been overwhelmed by this deal and stated that "This is the moment we have been waiting for," anxiously he claimed that "The transformative nature of an anchor tenant like Twitter will revitalize this community."
Despite the financial condition of San Francisco it still overall managed to keep a very reasonable rather even a little bit higher prices of real estate compared to other major cities. Hence few middle-class residents have raised their concern that such revitalization will lead for them to have to pay higher rents. Whereas they also suspect that such deals will also result in city employees being laid off and offered contract concessions. Hence just this past Tuesday, a group of neighbors in the area protested peacefully just outside Twitter's existing headquarters, which is only few miles far from the planned office place.
Not surprisingly, Twitter has refused to give any kind of comment regarding the tax-break quarrel.
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