When Jerry Brown was Mayor of Oakland, he proudly welcomed Cybergold, an internet start-up company that moved to Oakland in large part because of “the tax incentives of the Enterprise Zone.”   It was September 28, 1999.

“Cybergold’s talented workforce adds to the energy and excitement of downtown Oakland,” said Mayor Brown at an event celebrating Cybergold’s recent arrival. “Cybergold’s presence here is an unmistakable signal to other Internet start-ups that Oakland is wired and ready to go.”
Read it here.

I guess that was then and this is now, but Mayor Brown was able to build a thriving downtown Oakland because of the EZ.  Now he claims they are of no benefit to the state and should be summarily cast aside. Hmmm.

Los Angeles is “prepared to shoulder its fair share of the responsibility” for balancing the budget, said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. But, “any scenario that would completely eliminate the redevelopment zones and state enterprise zones is a non-starter.”

Similarly, George Runner, the newest member of the Board of Equalization, said that raising taxes and making it tough on business isn’t a solution.

“Californians are confronted with a huge budget crisis.  The fact is for too many years we’ve been spending more money than we should.  More money has been going out than revenues coming in.” Runner said. “We can solve our budget problem and the best way to do that is by getting Californians jobs.  I’m going to be looking at this budget through that lens. I applaud the Governor for proposing difficult spending cuts.  But I can’t support proposals to hurt private sector jobs through punitive tax hikes.”

“Californians have already spoken on the issue of taxes by resoundingly rejecting every proposed tax increase on recent ballots.  A special election to hike taxes is a waste of taxpayers’ time and money. Certainly we have to make some hard decision and cuts are necessary. But if we make it harder for the private sector to create employment than this is the wrong way to go,” he said.

Eliminating enterprise zones is a big mistake, according to Runner.

“Enterprise zones are California ‘s only remaining public policy measure aimed at keeping private sector jobs in our state.  Abolishing them would be irresponsible.  Instead we should make the whole state an enterprise zone,” he concluded.

Newly elected Democrat Luis Alejo, of the 28th Assembly District, is lining up in favor of Enterprise Zones.  “The Enterprise Zone program should be strengthened rather than eliminated,”  Alejo said in a January 1 article in The Californian.  Although a new Democrat, Alejo was picked by Speaker Perez to be Vice Chairman of the Assembly Local Government Committee.  Alejo is also a member of the Assembly Budget Committee.  He joins JEDE committee chair Manuel Perez in voicing strong support for the Enterprise Zones.

The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 extended the R&D credits for another two years.   Because of the heavy burden in producing document and calculating the traditional fixed base percentage, many companies opt for the Alternative Simplified Method despite yielding a lower credit percentage.  There was a big push to increase the Alternative Simplified Credit percentage from 14% to 17%, but the Tax Act didn’t go that far.  For the next two years, taxpayers who choose to use the ASC method will have to live with the 14%.

Anaheim, Harbor Gateway and Santa Clarita Valley, according to California Newswire.  Nothing posted on the HCD site yet.  Here is the link to the California Newswire story.

The League of California Cities urges everyone to contact their local political leaders and educate them as to the benefits and worthiness of the EZ program.  “City officials from communities with Enterprise Zones are encouraged to begin talking to their legislators now about the jobs and economic benefits these zones bring.”  View the Leage of Cities piece.

San Joaquin County’s governmental bodies have rallied behind a proposed expansion of the region’s business-friendly Enterprise Zone, but economic development leaders say a fight to keep the program alive is upcoming.

San Joaquin County Economic Development Director Fran Aguilera adamantly supports the EZ.  ”The zone is the biggest tool we have to attract business, and to keep them here.  It’s ludicrous. If you do something that hurts businesses … you’re hurting employment.”

Read the story here.

Here is the FTB’s November Tax News.

Colton Mayor Kelly Chastain boasts about how the San Bernardino Enterprise Zone has helped keep businesses and how she plans to attract more businesses. 

Having served the residents of Colton for 14 years, I have seen firsthand how tax incentives and funding programs support businesses. The city of Colton is among the locations in California to be a part of a designated Enterprise Zone. These zones offer employers a series of business and tax incentives to help them offset the high cost of doing business in the state.

Read the full San Bernardino Sun article here.

Pharmaceutical giant Bayer cut 39 jobs, but is not at risk of leaving the Oakland Enterprise Zone reports the Bay Citizen.  Read the article here.