Recent business growth and regulation news
03/03/10:
Testimony on River Plan and Working Waterfront Coalition update
During a testimony at Portland City Hall on February 17, about 25 businesses and business representatives expressed concerns about a specific element of the River Plan: amendments of the zoning code. Instead of going through additional permitting processes, businesses in the harbor want to invest directly in natural resource enhancements.
Portland City Council will continue hearing about the River Plan on April 1 at 2:00 p.m. In the meantime, the Alliance and the Working Waterfront Coalition will resume discussions with city commissioners about a zoning code and permit process that would benefit the environment and the local economy.
01/12/10:
Alliance weighs in on the Portland River Plan
On December 16, Bernie Bottomly, the Alliance's VP of Government Relations and Economic Development, testified at a North Reach Town Hall meeting about the city's draft River Plan. While the Alliance supports the enhancement of the environmental characteristics of the Portland Harbor, "there must be a balance between that enhancement and investment in harbor businesses," said Bottomly.
The testimony outlined concerns that the draft River Plan does not support current economic and land use policy in these ways:
- It makes it significantly more expensive and bureaucratically burdensome to redevelop in the harbor, which runs counter to the regional land use strategy that stipulates redevelopment of urban areas.
- It makes it more difficult to remediate brownfields in the harbor, which runs counter to the Harbor ReDi effort.
- It makes investment in Harbor business more expensive and difficult and hampers the goals of the current economic development strategy, which calls for the creation of 10,000 jobs in five years.
Testimony from the business community regarding these issues and conflicts has made an impact with the city and therefore, no final decision on the River Plan will be made at this time. On January 28, there will be another council hearing, and more businesses will testify. Portland City Council will then take into consideration the business community's concerns and move forward with possible amendments to the plan.
11/03/09:
City's Business Retention and Recruitment Credit approved by council
The City of Portland passed a new ordinance designed to deal with a problem faced by a small number of locally owned capital management firms that pay an exceptionally high Business License Tax due to their local ownership, small number of shareholders and sole location within the city.
The Alliance testified in favor of the ordinance as a part of the city's ongoing commitment to create greater fairness for Portland businesses through business license tax reform. Alliance President and CEO, Sandra McDonough, testified in support of the ordinance, "We believe that the ordinance is narrowly crafted in a way that specifically and exclusively addresses the inequities of the business license tax structure for these small, locally owned, highly mobile, high value firms.
"At the same time, the ordinance reaffirms the city's continued commitment to creating broader Business License Tax relief for locally owned companies, including other professional services firms, by increasing the owner's compensation deduction to $125,000."
The Alliance also supported the ordinance as a way to retain jobs in the central city. Last year, the Alliance found that the central city lost roughly 3,000 jobs.
10/30/09:
Alliance comments on draft River Plan
Because the North Reach of the Willamette River is Portland's working harbor and supports a significant number of jobs in the Portland area, the Alliance recently voiced concerns over the City of Portland's draft River Plan. The Alliance's main concerns stem from the plan's unreasonable costs and the conflicts it creates with existing policy.
Currently, the plan includes a 15 percent landscape restoration requirement, which the Alliance believes will ultimately result in the loss of jobs and economic activity in the city by removing productive land.
"Harbor related businesses should not be held to costly restorative standards when no other property in the city is held to those standards," said Alliance President and CEO Sandra McDonough in a letter to Mayor Adams. "Standards have changed over time and cannot be retroactively applied to the current occupants of harbor sites."
Read the letter to Mayor Sam Adams >>
10/09/09:
Tax measures qualify for ballot, funds still needed for tax referendum campaign
The Secretary of State's Elections Division announced late last week that the two petitions referring the two tax increases to the ballot both qualified. Both signature amounts were far and above number needed to qualify the measures, which demonstrates that Oregonians don't think the legislature's two permanent tax increases are the way to fix the state's 11.9 percent unemployment rate and get people back to work. In fact, economists estimate the measures will cause the state to lose an additional 70,000 jobs.
In January, a special election will be held and and voters will get their chance to say NO to the biggest business and personal income tax increase in Oregon history. Economists estimate that these permanent tax increases could cost 70,000 jobs in the state.
"There was a better way," said Alliance President Sandra McDonough. "The Alliance, with other business organizations, was prepared to support a package that included more modest and temporary measures to address this temporary government revenue problem, while protecting jobs for Oregonians. We still believe that is the more appropriate course for our state."
In order to be successful in January, the campaign needs active volunteers to keep the campaign momentum alive. You can become an official member of Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes campaign, posting campaign signs and writing letters to the editor. To become a volunteer or to donate funds, go to www.stopjobkillingtaxes.com.
The Alliance PAC has supported the referral, and has made donations to it as well as to other political candidates and measures endorsed by the Board of Directors. If you would like to be part of the Alliance PAC, click here to donate online. Or mail a contribution to Alliance PAC, 200 SW Market, Suite 150, Portland, OR 97201.
08/05/09:
Alliance supporting efforts to repeal job-killing tax increases
During the 2009 legislative session, the Alliance worked closely with other business organizations to support a plan that would ensure continuation of vital state programs, while also limiting permanent new tax burdens placed on our state's private-sector employers. Unfortunately, moderate plans for temporary revenue measures to solve temporary funding problems were rejected by the Legislature, which opted instead to pass $733 million in new, permanent taxes on Oregon businesses and individuals. That was the biggest tax increase in state history.
A coalition of organizations representing virtually every business sector in the state has been formed to refer these measures to Oregon voters next January. The coalition's message: these new tax measures harm Oregon's job-creating economy at a time when the state faces one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. Economists estimate that the measures will result in the loss of thousands of jobs - on top of those already lost in this downturn - and ultimately will hurt the state more than help it.
The Alliance has joined the coalition, and is supporting the referral. Once voters reject these tax increases, we want lawmakers to go back to the drawing board and come up with a more moderate approach that will provide temporary bridge funding for critical state programs while limiting the harm to the state's private employers.
We need your help. Getting the two measure on the ballot won't be easy and our timeline is very short. Your contributions are critical to the success of this effort. Making a contribution is easy. Click here to donate on line. Or mail a contribution to Alliance PAC, 200 SW Market, Suite 150, Portland, OR 97201.
To learn more about the campaign, go to www.stopjobkillingtaxes.com. Here is a summary of the tax increases:
- The Alternative minimum tax for C-Corporations from $150 for companies with Oregon sales of $500,000 or less, up to a maximum of $100,000 for companies with Oregon sales of more than $100 million.
- Increased income tax for corporations with net income over $250,000 to 7.9% in 2009 and 2010, declining to 7.6 percent for 2011 and 2012. Permanently increase the corporate income tax to 7.6 percent for companies with net income over $10 million.
- Increase S-Corp filing fee to $150.
- Increase state filing fee for all other corporations to between $50 and $275.
- Permanently increase income tax to 10.8 percent for individuals with incomes above $150,000 and households above $250,000 and to 11 percent for individuals with income over $250,000 and households over $500,000.
04/07/09:
Alliance opposes tourism-related tax increase, spending of lodging tax
The Alliance recently expressed its opposition to an increase in the state tax on rental cars and a change in how funds from the lodging tax can be spent. The proposed car rental excise tax would cost the consumer nearly double the average national car rental tax per day and would position Multnomah County as having the highest car rental tax in the nation.
The legislature is also looking to change a longstanding agreement by which significant portions of lodging taxes go to promote tourism activities to support the businesses bearing the burden of the tax. Changing what these funds can be used for to include traditional general fund expenditures presents a significant challenge to an industry that has worked closely and cooperatively with local jurisdictions to find appropriate and supportable levels and uses for lodging excise taxes.
"We felt that the excise tax increase would impose a significant financial burden on tourism-related businesses throughout Oregon and particularly in Multnomah County," said Steve Holwerda, Chair of the Portland Business Alliance. "The tourism industry should not be asked to shoulder a disproportionate share of the burden for general services."
Tourism is a critical driver of the state economy, and the recession has already had a severe impact on the industry. Nationwide travel has declined, resulting in less demand for tourism-related activities, including car rental.
04/07/09:
Alliance working with other business associations on tax proposals
As the Oregon legislature continues its 2009 session, the Portland Business Alliance continues to be at the table on a series of business tax discussions. The Alliance government relations committee, headed by Intel's Jill Eiland, is working in coordination with other state business groups such as Associated Oregon Industries, the Oregon Business Association and the Oregon Business Council on a number of tax proposals that are being discussed.
"Our goal is to continue to be at the table so we can negotiate the best possible position for employers," said Jill Eiland. "This session continues to be one of the most challenging in recent memory as legislators are looking to raise funds and cut costs. It is critical that the state's business leaders continue to work together and with the legislature."
The Alliance will continue talking with legislators and working with other business groups in the state in the coming months.
03/03/09:
Alliance urges legislators to balance budget without rainy day funds
The Portland Business Alliance issued a statement in late February supporting the decision to balance the state's FY 2007-09 budget shortfall without accessing the state's rainy day funds.
"We understand the difficulty of adjusting budgets this late in the fiscal year. But we need to take a long view regarding use of the state's rainy day funds to ensure we can bridge the anticipated deep budget gap in next fiscal biennium," said Sandra McDonough, President and CEO of the Portland Business Alliance.
Oregon's most recent revenue forecast projects a shortfall of $855 million for the current biennium and $3.1 billion for the 2009-11 biennium.
In 2007, Oregon businesses gave up a more than $300 million in corporate kicker funds to seed the new rainy day fund with the understanding that the state would use those dollars only after other budget-balancing options no longer worked. With the anticipated budget gap and more problems expected in the next biennium, the Alliance cautioned state lawmakers about tapping that savings account too soon.
McDonough said business leaders are sensitive to the potential impact on human services and education, but noted that those impacts may worsen in the next biennium.
"We support leadership's decision now to make judicious use of the stimulus package and thoughtful budget reductions to put us in the best position for the tough choices we face in the next biennium," she said.
01/07/09:
Alliance supports accelerated tax rebate for city businesses
One of Mayor Potter's last actions was to accelerate the rebate for the city's Business License Fee, which was switched from a fee paid in advance of doing business to an after the fact business tax last August. The Alliance board endorsed Mayor Potter's proposal and the city council approved it in mid-December. The accelerated rebate, which affects roughly 30,000 businesses throughout the city, varies in dollar amount.
This switch to an after the fact tax, which was also supported by the Alliance, eliminated the doubling up of the tax liability in the first year of an entity doing business in the city and required a final tax calculation and payment in the final year of doing business in the city. To be fair to existing businesses, a credit was granted beginning in tax year 2008 equal to the amount the business paid in their first year of business. This credit would originally have been taken by businesses over five tax years.
Due to the current economic downturn and the need to assist Portland businesses during this rough period, the city reviewed its financial position and determined that it could accelerate the payment of the first year adjustment credit to the 2008 tax year instead of the planned five tax years.
11/07/08:
Alliance, small business owners meet with Mayor-elect Adams
 Portland Business Alliance Small Business Council Chair Debbie Kitchen, Alliance of Portland Neighborhood Business Associations President Jean Baker and local business owners met with Mayor-elect Sam Adams on Nov. 7 for a collaborative discussion on how to support the prosperity of small businesses both through the near-term economic downturn and into the future.
the participants' concerns about doing business in Portland, including workforce training and availability, the education system, regulatory fees and codes and infrastructure needs. He also reviewed a number of city-led efforts aimed at alleviating regulatory and cost burdens on small businesses.
Business owners praised the city's work on business income tax and business license fee relief, an important step in reducing the overall cost of doing business in Portland. Receptive of the business leaders' suggestions, Mayor-elect Adams emphasized that the conversation about how the city can further support economic viability and help to secure a thriving future for small business in Portland will be ongoing.
10/16/08:
Alliance engages with Mayor-elect Sam Adams on Portland's response to economic crisis
Alliance board members and staff met with Mayor-Elect Sam Adams and Commissioner Randy Leonard to discuss strategies the city might adopt to respond to the economic downturn. Adams reviewed the impact historical recessions have had on city revenue and asked for input and suggestions on how to manage possible reductions in the city's budget. Alliance Board Chair Steve Holwerda urged Adams to plan for a deeper and longer recession than those the city has experienced in the recent past and to assume a greater reduction in Business Income Tax revenue.
Additionally, Alliance members and others urged the city to maintain essential services and focus on policies and spending priorities that help create jobs and make the city attractive for new investment. It was suggested at the meeting that Commissioner Adams meet with representatives of the city's banking and financial services community and that meeting was also attended by a number of Alliance member representatives where some of the same themes were addressed. Alliance President and CEO Sandra McDonough is also working with Mayor-Elect Adams on a meeting to engage small business owners and our neighborhood business associations.
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