Business Incentives

The City of Dublin has made economic development a top priority. To that end, the City has developed a number of incentives to assist in the attraction of new business.  Following are some of the most recently developed programs:

Sales Tax Reimbursement Program

For businesses that generate more than $10 million in taxable sales, the City has developed a program to help offset investments in improvements to the site or building that the business proposes to occupy.  The City will reimburse a business up to 50% of their annual sales tax for a period of five years, up to the amount they invested in the property.  For users that generate more than $50 million in taxable sales, the City will reimburse a business up to 50% for a period of 10 years.

Example:

Business A is expected to generate $20 million in taxable sales annually (attributable to the City of Dublin).  Business A needs to invest $500,000 in building improvements.  Business A enters into an agreement with the City to be reimbursed for their improvements.  Business A generates the anticipated $20 million in year one.  This results in $200,000 in new sales tax revenue to the City of Dublin.  Of this amount, Business A is eligible for $100,000 in year one (50% of the new sales tax revenue to the City).

For more information on the program, please review the Program Fact Sheet.

Hotel Incentive Program

The City Council established a hotel incentive program to encourage the development of new hotels, as well as promote reinvestment in existing hotels in the City of Dublin. To be eligible for the program, a hotel must have 125 or more rooms and be of a quality that it meets a four-star (first class) / three-star (comfort new hotel) or four diamond (first class) / three diamond (comfort new hotel) hotel rating or higher under the rating criteria established by the American Automobile Association (AAA), JD Power and Associates, or comparable hotel rating entity.

Rebate Limits

The amount of the TOT rebate shall be no greater than the funding gap identified in the applicant’s feasibility analysis. The analysis will be independently reviewed by a City consultant, and must prove that, but for this program, the development or improvement would not occur.

The Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) rebate will be no more than 70% for a 4-star hotel and no more than 50% for a 3-star hotel. Renovated hotels are eligible to receive a TOT rebate of 50% of the increment above existing TOT levels for up to 10 years. The term of the rebate shall be no longer than 20 years for a 4-star hotel, and no longer than 15 years for a 3-star hotel. 

For more information on the program, please review the Program Fact Sheet.
The Program Fact Sheet is also available in Chinese.

The City offers a Commercial Facade Improvement Grant Program for commercial businesses located in the Downtown Dublin Specific Plan Area and the segment of Dublin Boulevard between Village Parkway and Dougherty Road.  This grant would permit commercial property owners, or tenants with long-term leases (five or more years remaining on the lease at the time a Program application is submitted), to apply for either: 1) a mini-grant for reimbursement of up to five thousand dollars ($5,000); or 2) a matching grant, which would provide reimbursement for two-thirds (66%) of eligible project costs, up to a maximum determined by the Fiscal Year budget cycle annually.  The total cost of the improvement work must be more than five thousand dollars ($5,000).  Receipt of a matching grant requires the approved applicant to contribute a minimum of one-third of the total cost of the facade improvement costs.  As part of the program, an agreement will be signed between the applicant and City (click here for a sample agreement). 

Fee Deferral Program

The City offers two Fee Deferral Programs, one for non-residential development and another for multi-family residential projects within the Transit Districts.  The non-residential development deferral allows development to pay Traffic Impact Fees to the City just prior to occupancy.  The multi-family residential development deferral allows the Traffic Impact Fees, Public Facilities Fees and Fire Facilities Fees to be paid just prior to occupancy.

Small Business Assistance Program

The City offers a Small Business Assistance Program to assist Dublin-based businesses with the cost of complying with federal, state, and local laws relating to disability access requirements, trash enclosures, sewer connections, and other such obligations imposed on small businesses.  City staff is also available to provide the following services:

• One-to-one assistance with zoning related questions
• Site selection 

Sewer Capacity Assistance Program

In partnership with the Dublin San Ramon Services District (provider of water and sewer service), the City has offered financial assistance to businesses that required new or additional local and regional sewer capacity.  A limited amount of sewer capacity credits are available, with a preference for businesses located in the Downtown Dublin Specific Plan area; however, applications for assistance elsewhere will be considered on a case- by-case basis.

As part of the Program, the City has provided assistance from 25% to 100% of the DSRSD local and regional sewer connection fees that would otherwise be paid by the applicant.  As outlined in the chart below, the percentage of assistance varies by user type and square footage: