Why did county counsel consider a payroll tax not legally viable?
County Counsel’s opinion: Counties do not have the authority under the law as it currently exists to impose payroll tax. In order for a general law city or county to impose a particular local tax, there must be a grant of authority from the Legislature allowing for it. Charter cities are different. SF is a charter city, so it has the option of imposing a payroll expense tax, under a municipal affairs clause of the California constitution. (County Counsel memo regarding payroll and impact fees) An independent law firm, Altschuler, Berzon, LLP was contracted to conduct an analysis of all legally viablle options for requiring employer participation in financing. This legal memo was presented to the Task Force on October 31 and is available under the materials from that meeting.
