S.F. 'BUILD Act' is a big tax cut for the wealthy. Let's just be honest about it.

The BUILD Act is presented as a Balanced Update to Incentivize Local Development in San Francisco. It would reduce taxes paid by sellers when properties worth more than $10 million change hands, targeting large multifamily housing and downtown office vacancies. The proposal would roll back Proposition I of 2020, which doubled the applicable rate. Support for Proposition I came from marketing that framed the tax increase as a way to hit specific high-profile interests. The BUILD Act’s framing could instead be perceived as offering tax relief to those same interests, which may weaken public appeal. The piece notes that arguments exist that the current tax approach may be suboptimal or counterproductive, citing housing investment efforts and claims about incentives.

"Is the BUILD Act a bad idea? Objectively no, at least not in the way that driving on the railroad tracks is a bad idea. There are sound claims to be made that the city's present approach to taxing large real estate transactions is suboptimal or even counterproductive. Ted Chandler, the senior adviser to the AFL-CIO housing investment trust fund - which has put hundreds of millions of dollars into developing more than 1,000 units in the city - sums it u"

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