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Today's Poll: Will a $3,000 tax credit spur employers to hire unemployed people?

By Howard B. Owens
Bea McManis

I'm all for helping the small business owner but there are several questions:
1. What reason would an employer have to hire someone if their current business situation doesn't warrent putting on additional help? Is that tax credit enough incentive to hire someone that really isn't needed?
2. Is there a safety net in place to insure that the new hire will have a job after the tax credit is issued?
3. How many times can the small business owner apply for that credit? What will stop them from hiring then firing then hiring again and continue to recieve that credit for each unemployed person they place on the books for a short amount of time?
I'm sure there are answers to all of these. Just early morning musing over coffee.

Feb 5, 2010, 8:44am Permalink
Howard B. Owens

Bea, you ask the question better than I did of Ranzenhofer yesterday.

A small business owner who can't afford to create a new position isn't likely to create one just because of a $3,000 tax credit. The good business owner is going to look his tactical and strategic needs, his potential ROI on the hire, and if it makes sense, create the position. It seems it would be the rarest of cases where a $3,000 tax credit would make or break the decision.

Ranzenhofer did respond to my fumbling question and point out that in New York's high-tax environment, anything New York can to do bring tax relief to small business owners is likely to create more jobs.

Feb 5, 2010, 8:57am Permalink
Richard Gahagan

Why doesn't NY state just eliminate the high business taxes entirely.

And don't forget if the Obama budget passes small businesses better keep their total gross income under 250K or the government will take more of it to redistribute your money so the police, fd, teachers, county workers and social workers don't loose their overpaid jobs.

Feb 5, 2010, 9:33am Permalink
Ray Yacuzzo

Chris, It's net. It is also a very rare small business that nets a $250,000 profit. Most of us think of a small business as being a sole proprietorship or a partnership. In Government terms the definition is usually a company with fewer than 500 employees. That's pretty big for
Genesee County.

Feb 5, 2010, 11:57am Permalink
terry paine

I have to agree with Richard on this one. I owned a business in WNY for ten years and was finding it harder and harder to compete with other companies as most of them were based in the mid west. After some research I found that by moving my company to Wisconsin I could lower my overhead by close to $75000 per year. I still wonder why I was so stupid and naive to allow myself to be overcharged by 3/4 of a million dollars in those ten years. All that research proved a waste of time because new senseless state laws quickly reduced my company from a 1.6 million a year business to less than half that in just two years.

Feb 5, 2010, 12:33pm Permalink
Rich Martin

Mr Gahagan, Why do you insist on making rediculous, smart-assed comments that usually are ignored? Are you that jelous of people who earn more you? You had every opertunity to choose what you wanted to do in life. You could have been that police officer or teacher or that social worker. Ok, yes the firemenn are over paid, but you sir should see give it a break!. Your anger and jelousy is a powerful poison that will do you in eventually. Oh and by the way.. I bet teacheers wern't overpaid when you were married to one....
Love and kisses, Rich

Feb 5, 2010, 1:58pm Permalink
Richard Gahagan

Sorry Richie you should just ignore the ridiculous comments about NY's overtaxing of private industry to support government jobs. Not angry or jealous, just don't like them using tax money to save government jobs as repayment to the public employee unions that should have otherwise been cut. The 3,000 dollar tax credit for private industry is a joke. Lower taxes, cut government jobs and get rid of the unions. For further enlightenment please read the following:

http://bigjournalism.com/wthuston/2010/01/26/public-employees-unions-ar…

your welcome

Feb 5, 2010, 3:32pm Permalink
Bob Harker

I agree, Richard. Our state is so broke and broken because of Albany's belief that the only way to solve our problems is by throwing money at them. Instead of spending more, they should at least CONSIDER other ways. I don't think they do - on either side of the aisle. Do they not realize business is leaving this state because of the tax burden? And why would an upstart business owner even consider moving to the highest taxed state in the union?

Cut spending, cut personal and business taxes.

AND destroy the CSEA. A friend is a member. She hates the union. All it does is protect under performers. The person that always calls in, receives write-ups and poor evaluations gets the exact same exact raise as the employees that are responsible, work hard, and receive stellar reviews.

My new requirement for a person getting my vote? Never having held a political office before.....

Feb 5, 2010, 6:17pm Permalink
Peter O'Brien

I'll just say that if Chelsea and I decide to open a bakery, this 3000 for each of us will not even come close to becoming a reason to create those jobs.

Feb 6, 2010, 8:21am Permalink
doug smith

3000 might push a company that is on the fence about a new hire to do just that ....as far as over paid state workers go.....I don't know ....but there benefits should
not burden us forever......
I think its time to start cutting this welfare rip off.....cant tell you how many people I know who get public assitance .....that are smokers, drinkers,gamblers...if you smoke,drink, then pay for your own dam kids lunch . stop expecting us tax payers to do it for you....

Feb 6, 2010, 2:21pm Permalink
Neil Richardson

I don't think that a tax credit is going to be enough. If a business does not have customers then they have no need to hire employees. I costs a good deal of money to hire people. It is not just their hourly wage that has to be taken into consideration. <a href="http://www.asbafo.net&quot; id="clean-url" class="install">online casino</a>

Feb 8, 2010, 8:12am Permalink

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