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Wednesday, January 21, 2026

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LEGAL TAX CHEATING: City loses $137 million to pointless “deferrals”

By Tim Redmond

San Francisco has allowed developers to defer $166 million in payments that should have gone to affordable housing, Muni, and childcare, an analysis based on city data shows.

I got the data from attorney Sue Hestor, who got it from city records. It shows that 55 projects have been allowed to delay their mitigation payments under a 2010 plan backed my then-Mayor Gavin Newsom that was designed to stimulate development in a weak economy.

The plan allowed developers to delay for as long as 30 months payment of impact fees that help city agencies like Muni deal with an influx of new office workers and offset somewhat the housing pressures that new development brings. (more after the jump)

Marke B.
Marke B.
Marke Bieschke is the publisher and arts and culture editor of 48 Hills. He co-owns the Stud bar in SoMa. Reach him at marke (at) 48hills.org, follow @supermarke on Twitter.

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