C & I is a group of tax consultants who assist with managing and supplying guidance regarding the California Enterprise Zone Tax Credits. This is a niche area of accounting that saves clients tremendous amounts of taxes. C & I deals directly with clients and subcontract with many accountants to do the Enterprise Zone credits for their clients.
Every year, the state of California gives out hundreds of millions of dollars in enterprise zone tax credits. C & I, the tax credit experts, can help you get these credits.
This past week was exciting for the cities of Long Beach and Santa Fe Springs, which both were honored as being the two most business friendly cities. The award was given by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Coporation (LAEDC) at the 14th annual Eddy awards ceremony.
Long Beach took the honors for the most business friendly city with over 60,000 citizens while Santa Fe Springs won the award for the most business friendly city with less than 60,000 citizens.
The California Business Blog had this to say about Long Beach’s win, “Long Beach believes that a city must invest in modern infrastructure as a foundation for the development of long term economic prosperity for its businesses and residents and that is why they are committing more than $1.1 billion to infrastructure investments. They are also demonstrating their commitment to retaining jobs in their region through an investment in the local business community by offering Enterprise Zone benefits, expedited permit processing, and a transparent, proactive government comprised of civic leaders who understand the necessity of planned growth.”
Below is a letter from CAEZ President Craig Johnson regarding Assemblyman Perez and AB1139:
Dear CAEZ Members and Friends of CAEZ,
As you can see from the article below, Assemblyman John Perez, the author of AB 1139, will become the new Speaker of the State Assembly. Assemblyman Perez also recently removed AB 1139 from the January 5th agenda of the Assembly Jobs & Economic Development Committee. Both of these developments should give us pause, as his intentions toward the Enterprise Zone program are at best, unclear at this point.
We will still have a fight on our hands to preserve and advance the Enterprise Zone program in 2010, as the Legislative Analysts Office has once again called for the abolition of the program.
I will keep you apprised as things develop and ask that you continue to provide CAEZ with your success stories. This effort is vital if we are to combat the onslaught of negative press that continues to appear in newspapers and Journals across the state. Legislators read! It is incumbnet upon us to share our successes with our Legislators in every part of the State. If we don’t do it, no one will.
Thank you for your continued support of the Enterprise Zone program.
CRAIG JOHNSON
President
California Association of Enterprise Zones
Perez emerges from speakership battle
jsanders@sacbee.com
Published Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009
Assemblyman John A. Perez’s final opponent has bowed out, setting the stage for the first-term Democrat to be selected Assembly speaker today — the first openly gay man to hold the post.
After behind-closed-door talks this week with Perez and other political leaders, Assemblyman Kevin de Leon agreed to bow out and is expected to nominate Perez in an Assembly Democratic Caucus today, Capitol sources said.
It is not clear when a formal floor vote will be taken, but by uniting behind a candidate, Democrats need not rely on GOP votes.
De Leon’s decision ends one of the nastiest battles over the Assembly’s top job in recent history, with allegations of backstabbing, double crossing and political deceit.
Perez, cousin of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, will replace current Speaker Karen Bass, who will be forced out of the Legislature by term limits next year.
Democratic colleagues praised Perez, who has served this year as caucus chairman, helping steer the 51-member group through often bitter disagreement as California’s reeling economy forced billions in cuts to education and other public services.
“He’s fair, he’s inclusive, he’s articulate, he’s focused, he’s a team player, and he’s friends with everybody,” said Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal, D-Los Angeles.
Lowenthal said that Perez’s status as a first-year legislator was an asset because he can serve five years as Assembly leader before being termed out.
“I trust him,” Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, said of Perez. “If he says that he’s going to do something, I believe that he will.”
Republicans said that they differ markedly in political ideology from either Perez or de Leon, both labor-backed Democrats, so the selection of one over the other makes no substantive difference in prospects for GOP legislation.
Assemblyman Anthony Adams, R-Hesperia, said Perez has demonstrated a “great deal of integrity and steady handedness” and that Republicans must find a way to work with whomever Democrats choose because they hold 51 of the 80 seats.
“Candidly, what choice do we have?” Adams said.
Perez, who is chairman of the Assembly Democratic Caucus and was regarded much of the year as a potential candidate for speaker, entered the fray as a late-comer after being pushed by colleagues.
The final days marked a political whirlwind that apparently pulled the rug from under de Leon, who was regarded as the clear frontrunner but never won commitments from a majority of the 51-member Democratic Caucus.
Behind the scenes, the race appeared over shortly before Thanksgiving, when Villaraigosa hosted a private meeting of Perez, de Leon and former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, de Leon’s childhood buddy and lifelong friend, Capitol officials said.
The session ended over a bottle of wine, officials said, with de Leon expected to become speaker and Perez targeted to run with no major Democratic opposition for the Senate seat of Cedillo, who has long coveted a move to the Assembly once he is termed out next year.
Despite the apparent understanding, de Leon was not able to quickly muster the caucus majority necessary to secure the post.
Torrico said many Democratic colleagues simply felt that de Leon, chairman of the powerful Assembly Appropriations Committee, had not led committees focused on major policy issues and was not “up to the job” of speaker.
“Too many people believe that he didn’t earn his stripes, that Fabian Nunez did all the heavy lifting for him,” Torrico said.
Days after the late November meeting with Villaraigosa, Perez switched gears and opted to fight de Leon for the speaker’s job after being lobbied heavily to run by Assembly Democrats Jared Huffman and Fiona Ma, among others.
With Bass’ support, commitments quickly began swinging Perez’s way.
Torrico said he felt a turning point came with commitments by Ma and Los Angeles Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes to Perez.
“Once they came on board with Mr. Perez, basically the three most operational people in the Assembly were on the same team,” he said. “That was a force that could overcome a four-year head start that Kevin de Leon had over John Perez.”
Last week, Bass held a press conference to throw her support behind Perez, declare that a majority of the Democratic Caucus supported him, and to announce that she would begin working with Perez to set a timetable for transition.
Neither Perez nor de Leon commented publicly about the turn of events, but privately, de Leon’s camp continued to press the fight.
The same day that Bass told the media that Perez’s victory was imminent, 10 members of the Assembly’s 17-member Latino Caucus met at the Sheraton Hotel, after which seven declared their support for de Leon as speaker.
At the time, Assemblyman Pedro Nava, a Santa Barbara Democrat who supported de Leon, said the contest was far from over.
“I think that we have a large number of very independent-thinking people who are not going to be stampeded into making a decision,” Nava said.
Since then, Perez and de Leon, along with others, have been ironing out differences in private talks, leading to today’s conciliation.
Doug Herman, Perez’s political consultant, said he does not expect tension to linger between the two finalists for the top job.
“John would never double-cross Kevin,” Herman said. “I think they both want to be able to, and will be able to, work together.”
Santa Clarita wins top honors for cities with populations greater than 50,000, while Vernon wins for cities with less than 50,000 residents.
The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) today announced the cities of Santa Clarita and Vernon as the winners of its annual “Most Business-Friendly City in Los Angeles County” competition at its 13th Annual Eddy Awards on November 17, 2008. The Eddy Awards are attended by more than 700 leaders from the business, government, and education communities.
The City of Santa Clarita emerged as the most business-friendly city in LA County for the cities with more than 50,000 residents. Santa Clarita does not assess a utility user tax, allowing businesses to save up to five percent or more on their electric, telephone, water, and gas bills, and it has recently been designated as a State of California Enterprise Zone. Santa Clarita offers its businesses and residents a highly educated workforce, available land for development, site selection assistance, and expedited plan reviews and permit processing.
This is a geographic area within the City of Santa Clarita that provides tax incentives to business to revive the local economy! Santa Clarita is located just 20 minutes north of Los Angeles. The Santa Clarita Enterprise Zone covers 97% of all commercial, business, and industrial zoned land within the City of Santa Clarita.
Merced County Supervisor, Deidre F. Kelsey, has responded to Dan Walter’s opinion of California’s Enterprise Zone program. The full text of his response is below:
Contrary to Dan Walters’ column (“It’s time for a hard look at California tax dodges,” Nov. 9) enterprise zones create jobs.
Proof is in the numbers: Since the designation of the Merced County Enterprise Zone in December 2006, 577 new jobs have been created.
These jobs are a lifeline for residents in Merced, many of whom face barriers to employment.
Merced County and its cities have typically struggled to attract new businesses and is an area that has been hard hit by the economic downturn. In September of this year, Merced County had a 15.7 percent unemployment rate, which is down from 20.2 percent in March 2009.
Our state desperately needs concrete economic development tools in order to remain competitive
We cannot afford to be short-sighted; we should not cut back programs that will fundamentally help us grow our economy and recover from the recession. Merced has seen first-hand the benefits of the enterprise zone designation.
Recent research has shown that enterprise zones increase employment, increase wage, salary and income levels, and decrease poverty rates. These are measurable benefits that are eagerly welcomed in our county.
The enterprise zone program represents an important investment in the future of Merced, and in the health of our state. We can no longer take for granted that businesses will locate in California and grow into a healthy and sustainable tax base.
We need to show that our cities and county are open for business, and the enterprise zone helps deliver that critical message.
Deidre F. Kelsey is chairwoman of the Merced County Board of Supervisors.
Dan Walters’ Nov. 9 column, “It’s high time for hard look at tax dodges,” questions the effectiveness of “enterprise zones,” yet evidence to the contrary points to the continued success of the program. Business owners large and small face the challenges of the cost of doing business, meeting payroll and ensuring a return on investment in a state with the highest state sales tax, the second highest state income tax and the second highest workers compensation rates in the nation. Simply put, the enterprise zone program is an investment in our state’s future.
A 2006 report to the Department of Housing and Community Development revealed that poverty decreased 7.35 percent more in enterprise zones, unemployment rates fell by 1.2 percent, household incomes grew 7.1 percent faster, and the wages and salary levels grew 3.5 percent more than the rest of the state. Hardly the signs of a “tax dodge” designed to give employers an incentive to do business in California.
Looking beyond the numbers, there are countless stories of businesses that have remained or expanded their California operations because of the enterprise zone program. Most recently, the Bayer manufacturing facility in Berkeley was on its way to the East Coast, but the expansion of the Oakland enterprise zone to include Berkeley persuaded Bayer to keep its operations and its 1,300 employees in the East Bay. Bayer now will invest more than $100 million in plant upgrades to manufacture a new drug to treat hemophilia.
The value of enterprise zones is clearly understood by local governments – there were 15 applications submitted to the Department of Housing and Community Development for four openings in the most recent round of designations. Rather than being viewed as a drain on local budgets, cities and counties compete through a rigorous and costly application process for an enterprise zone designation that will bring measurable economic development benefits to their communities.
Enterprise zones encourage economic growth and job creation, resulting in higher revenues for state and local budgets. The program puts people to work who face the greatest barriers to employment, reducing the strain on overburdened social service programs.
In the face of deep spending cuts, it is short-sighted to suggest elimination of the enterprise zone program. It is the cornerstone of our state’s economic recovery strategy and will lead the way to economic growth and expanded business activity in California.
Businessowners:This free workshop will help local businesses to use the enterprise zone program to save money and jobs
WHAT:Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod, 32nd Senate District, in partnership with the San Bernardino Valley Enterprise Zone, will host a workshop to assist local business owners about the enterprise zone program.
The workshop will provide information about the tax credits and incentives available to businesses in the enterprise zone and share how they can encourage business growth and development.
Topics to be covered include:
Hiring credit
Sales and use tax credit
Business expense deduction
Net interest deduction for lenders
Net operating loss carryover
Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod chairs the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee.
“Part of my job as chair of the committee is to ensure that economic development programs that support small business are working effectively,” stated Senator Negrete McLeod.
The enterprise zone program is one of the only remaining programs in California that continues to support business growth in the state. By offering businesses cost reductions through tax credits and business incentives, the program helps companies save thousands of dollars annually, which allows them to maintain their ability to employ more people and keep much needed capital in the local economy.
WHEN:November 12, 2009
8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.
WHERE:City of Colton, Gonzales Center
670 Colton Ave., Colton, CA 92324
For reservations and more information contact Wendy Clements at (909) 382.4100 (ext. 230), or
info@sbvez.com.
SPONSORS: The event is sponsored by the City of Colton, City of San Bernardino Economic Development Agency, County of San Bernardino Economic Development Agency and Inland Valley Development Agency. A continental breakfast will be provided.
San Joaquin County has been hit hard by the recession, however the city and many local businesses finally have a reason a celebrate this week. The reason for the celebration is the news that the State of California has approved the requested Enterprise Zone boundary expansion that the region has been requesting for the past year.
Considering that the county has been battling an unemployment rate of 15%, this Enterprise Zone expansion should help to bring jobs to the area due to the numerous tax breaks businesses can partake in by hiring local employees.
The Enterprise Zone offers many perks to spur growth and give residents jobs. Local businesses can earn more than $37,000 in state tax credits for each local employee they hire.
I wanted to tell you about an amazing new subsidy available for all San Francisco employers. It provides SF employers with a 100% subsidy for wages paid to qualified employees. This means that the employer receives reimbursement for 100% of the wages (excluding payroll taxes) paid to qualified employees. To qualify, an employee must be a SF resident with a minor child and a family income of less than 200% of the federal poverty level in the last 30 days(typically $3,000 per month for a family of 3). Someone who lost their job more than a month ago is eligible as is anyone who is currently employed but working less than 25 hours per week.
This credit is only available until September 30, 2010 so don’t wait if you think you have qualified employees. Click here to download the letter we received from the Mayor’s office and a link to the SF Human Services Agency website for an Employer Application http://www.sfhsa.org/1410.htm.
So far, the highlights of the show have been new HCD Branch Chief John Nun. He roused the crowd yesterday with his opening remarks focused on making the EZ program more transparent and efficient. He informed the audience that his job duties are focused exclusively on the EZ program. He has increased his staff by two members. Each staff member will be assigned to a number of zones that they will be responsible for and in fact intend to visit. John’s on hand’s approach was widely welcomed and highly praised by the audience and by CAEZ President Craig Johnson who gave his own rousing rally-the-troops speech this morning. The theme of these two speakers was the word “unprecedented” which Johnson had the audience recite with him. From lobbying, to public relations to statutory review and close collaboration with HCD, the CAEZ is taking shape and taking charge like never before. Yolanda Benson and Toni Symonds gave insightful presentations regarding current legislation, including AB 1139 and the schedule for the next few months. The legislative discussion seemed to come full circle to Johnson’s message that the audience get involved and continue to the wave of activism that is taking the EZ program to a whole new level.
EXCISE TAX REFUND