1200% Increase in Tax Rate!!!

[MountainDon]

Ouch! We received notice from the state UIC bandits that our state UIC contribution rate has increased from 0.05% to 0.6%. That's an increase of 1200% in one fell swoop! 

I knew the state was in bad shape but Jumping Jehoshaphat!! 

On a thousand bucks that's $14.31 extra; okay, not a big pile of cash, but just the same... Criminy!!

What's especially galling is that we have never had a single UIC claim. None, ever! Companies with a high UIC claims rate saw no increase at all in their rate.

Seriously pi$$ed off here!

[peternap]

Another nail in the coffin for small business.

This is just one of the many reasons a lot of Mom & Pop type services are going underground and not paying anything.

[fishing_guy]

MD,
They are having problems getting people to accept more income and property taxes, so they are hiding the taxes any way they can.  We have had many "Fees" raised over the last few years.
1200%?  It may not be much now, but at that rate it doesn't take long to make it much.
Kind of like out up north property.  We got hit with a 50% hike the year we bought it, and another hike the next year.  In all, the taxes have gone up 100% since we bought it.  Alright, it isn't much...went from 80 to $160 per year, but double that a few more times and it'll mean the property will go for sale.

[ScottA]

Vote for Paul. 

[Native_NM]

Ouch! We received notice from the state UIC bandits that our state UIC contribution rate has increased from 0.05% to 0.6%. That's an increase of 1200% in one fell swoop! 

I knew the state was in bad shape but Jumping Jehoshaphat!! 

On a thousand bucks that's $14.31 extra; okay, not a big pile of cash, but just the same... Criminy!!

What's especially galling is that we have never had a single UIC claim. None, ever! Companies with a high UIC claims rate saw no increase at all in their rate.

Seriously pi$$ed off here!

I've got 300+ employees in several states.  Don't get me started on California and New York.

[Native_NM]

Our health insurance went up 9%, despite a low utilization rate.  Liability insurance went up 6%.  Our experience mod is .89 on workers compensation, and the rates went up.  UI insurance for NM skyrocketed.  The cost of materials has skyrocketed also.  Chemical prices have risen, as have basic commodity prices.  The only cost employers can contain is labor - both the number of employees, as well as salary increases.  The reason for high unemployment is not a secret to anyone who deals in corporate finance. 

My contracts are usually negotiated for a period of 1 to 3 years.  My pricing is firm.  If I can't contain costs, I lose money.  One of our competitors asked if we wanted to buy his contracts.  He was losing money on every sale and was going to just shut his doors rather than wait it out. 

Some states have property tax laws (Prop 13, Stat21, etc), which limit the increase.  As the economy has collapsed, cities are turning to property taxes to fill the gap created by falling income taxes.  I protested the valuation of a facility that is worth half as much as it was in 2007.  The taxes are capped at 3% per year, but they keep raising the assessed value.  Worse is the special assessments.  They create a special tax for a specific region of a city that is in addition to the regular property taxes.  All it takes is enough of the owners in a given area to agree.  If a business is delinquent in their taxes, the tax authority slaps a lien.  Buried in the law is a provision that gives them the power to vote your property if you are delinquent.  When they "own" 51% of the property in an area, they vote a special assessment.  Instant increase.  One of our properties is now subject to a "Lighting and Street Enhancement" special assessment.  I asked for a list of the property owners who voted for the tax, which they declined to provide.  I told them it was public record, and they suggested I file a request under the state FOIA provisions. 

The reason you see more and more banks and companies bulldozing properties is because the tax liability exceeds the carrying value of the property.  The banks own millions of foreclosed homes.  The property taxes owed to the cities and towns is a liability.  The tax value of raw land is almost nothing.  They bulldoze the structure.  We have a commercial property in NY that has an annual property tax bill of $68,000 for a 40,000 sqft building.  Most of the building is not office space, but industrial warehouse space.  As a percentage of sales, property taxes has increased at all our facilities over the last 10 years, even though real value has decreased.   At some point, I may just bulldoze it. 

The cities have promised more to the public union employees than they can deliver.  I was reading about a city in Maryland [Rhode Island?]  that gave teachers 90% of their highest 3 years salary after 25 years.  Plus medical.  Their average salary was almost $70,000 at retirement.  The average pension was almost $60,000, and the average retirement age was about 55.   When the teachers retired, they hired them back.  The reasoning for rehiring them was that it was cheaper because new teachers would be eligible for the pension plan!    .    The unfunded liability was in the billions.  If they taxed 100% of all income reported they can't cover the pensions.   They were trying to avoid bankruptcy.  They are working to figure out how to transfer the liability to the federal taxpayer via the Pension Guaranty Program.  You and I will eventually end up paying for local city and state pensions also.

To say things are bad is an understatement.  Unemployment insurance is the tip of the iceberg.

[Texas Tornado]

Vote for Paul. 

I agree!!!!!