This posted yesterday in the San Francisco Sentinel.

Allows San Francisco Businesses to Access Valuable Hiring Tax Credits Through Simple Web-Based Tool; Advances Mayor’s Jobs Plan Goal of Using Technology to Make the City Easier Navigate for Business

Mayor Edwin M. Lee today announced the launch of the San Francisco Enterprise Zone Web App, a web-based tool that allows San Francisco businesses to apply online for the City’s popular Enterprise Zone hiring tax credit program. The Enterprise Zone Web App will replace a completely paper-based process with a web based tool which increases government efficiency and makes it easier for businesses to utilize the program.

“I am committed to making it easier for local businesses to operate and grow jobs in San Francisco,” said Mayor Lee. “The Enterprise Zone Web App takes a powerful tax incentive program and brings it online so small businesses, manufacturers and other firms can save time while they save money.”

“At SFMade we make sure that all of our manufacturers are aware of the Enterprise Zone hiring tax credits and the potential savings it offers,” said SFMade Executive Director Kate Sofis. “My staff works closely with small business owners with limited resources. Having the Enterprise Zone Web App instead of a paper process will make a big difference in terms of administrative costs, time and use of this important tax credit.”

“The Enterprise Zone hiring tax credit is really important to our company,” said Marissa Andres, Controller at Mackenzie Warehouse, an auto parts distributor located in Potrero Hill. “The savings we earn in tax credits are used for hiring and retaining employees. The online tool is simple and straight-forward and saves me valuable time.”

The Enterprise Zone is a State of California program which provides tax credits and other incentives to encourage business investment and promote the creation of new jobs. In place since 1997, the San Francisco Enterprise Zone is one of 42 Enterprise Zones in the state and is administered locally by the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD). The San Francisco Enterprise Zone areas include the following areas: Bay View Hunters Point/ South Bayshore; Chinatown; the Mission; Mission Bay Project Area; Potrero Hill; south of Market; the Tenderloin; and the Western Addition and some portions of North Beach and Financial District.

The tool was developed using Firmstep’s AchieveForms software. The switch to an on-line app will not only decrease costs in paper and postage, but will also speed up the processing time getting businesses approved for tax credits more quickly and efficiently.

The San Francisco Enterprise Zone Web App can be found at http://sfezapp.oewd.org For more information on the San Francisco Enterprise Zone Program, go to: http://www.oewd.org/Enterprise-Zone.aspx For more information from the State on the Enterprise Zones Program, go to: www.hcd.ca.gov/fa/ez/ <http://www.hcd.ca.gov/fa/ez/>

Governor Brown’s May Revise does not specifically mention enterprise zones.  In a number of places, the budget blames lower revenues on increased and “unpredictable” use of corporate tax credits as well as the lack of the type of credit limitations that existed in 2008-2009.

The Second District Court of Appeals today ruled that the enterprise zone sales and use tax credit of Revenue and Taxation Code Sec. 23612.2 is not available in connection with the purchase of current expense assets, but rather only with the purchase of capital assets.  Read the full opinion.

Assemblyman Louis Alejo, who has been a big supporter of the EZ program over the last few years, has introduced a new bill, AB 484, to address the operation of expiring zones.   Assemblyman Alejo’s district includes Watsonville which is set to expire.  HCD has indicated that it will not be renewing expiring zones or designating new ones for now.  Alejo’s bill seeks to extend the expiring zones until new zones are designated.

The California Supreme Court has scheduled oral argument in the Dicon case for Tuesday, March 6, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. in San Francisco.

From the Sacramento Bee:

Gov. Jerry Brown will release his budget today at 2:30 p.m. after his administration mistakenly posted the document on the Department of Finance website.
The projected budget deficit is $9.2 billion through June 2013, according to sources who have seen the document.
The Democratic governor was scheduled to release the budget on Tuesday and dismissed reporters’ questions this morning about his plan, saying he wanted to be sure the media would show up for next week’s release.
The budget announcement will be streamed online live at his website.

Let the games begin.  Speaker Perez spoke out about the redevelopment case and what it means to Enterprise Zones.

“A second look will also no doubt be taken at the issue of local economic development in the wake of the California Supreme Court ruling that abolishes more than 400 local redevelopment agencies next month. Speaker Perez dismissed any notion that actual RDAs will be recreated by the Legislature; instead, he emphasized the need for ways to promote job creation and economic stimulus that doesn’t favor one region over another. And he suggested that the scrapping of RDAs could reignite his the effort of many Democrats to revise the state’s enterprise zone program.”

Read the full article.

Tala Enterprise, a clothing maker that idled its denim line in China to bring its production back to the United States, officially opened a new knitwear manufacturing plant in the Coachella Valley Enterprise Zone.

“Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez noted that the plant’s opening in the Coachella Valley Enterprise Zone comes at a critical time when California has frequently been labeled as unfriendly to business.

The very existence of this new business illustrates the importance of the state’s enterprise zones, which provide companies extra benefits to open, the Coachella Democrat said.”

Read the full article.

Effective November 8, 2011, the SBVEC has expanded by about 4 square miles.  Read the full story.

From the Santa Clarita Signal:

Santa Clarita Valley officials said Wednesday that they’re skeptical of Gov. Jerry Brown’s latest budget proposals that plan to scale back a program that gives tax breaks to local businesses.

“The governor certainly wants to find Republican votes, but he’s going to have to do more than what’s come out of the May revisions,” Smyth said. “Enterprise zones should be left alone.”