NYS businesses call for tax relief to boost recovery efforts, December 06, 2001

NYS businesses call for tax relief to boost recovery efforts 12/06/01 If New York State's small business owners were making a holiday wish list this year, topping it would be cuts in state and local taxes.Business owners, responding to the second Alfred University Business Climate Survey administered as the third quarter was drawing to a close, were asked what the state could do to speed economic recovery.Their answer: Cut taxes, all kinds of taxes."Taxeswere clearly and emphatically on the minds of the business owners," said Dr. Amy Rummel, professor of marketing at Alfred University's College of Business."More than 60 percent of the business owners suggested cutting them, eliminating them altogether, or giving tax credits or incentives to spur business growth in the state."Cutproperty and income tax My operations in Pennsylvania and Ohio are much more profitable because of the tax differential, " one respondent wrote.Many suggested cutting taxes would give New York residents additional spending power that would boost the economy."(Cut the) New York State income tax.Top rate should be cut to 6 percent.It's like giving a raise to every New Yorker," one business owner suggested.Also on the business owners' wish list: regulatory reform.Respondents said dealing with everything from environmental regulations to local zoning codes place an unwarranted burden on businesses, particularly small businesses who do not have staff or resources to deal with them, Rummel said.on-time adoption of state budgets."Business owners are telling us that failure to adopt a state budget on time hurts them, particularly those who deal with school districts, municipalities and other governmental agencies," Rummel said."When the state budget is delayed, those customers often postpone or cancel projects, and that hurts the small businesses who rely on the flow of dollars from the state through the municipalities or school districts."a "Buy New York First" policy."Business owners told us they hate to see their tax dollars going to out-of-state firms," said Rummel.continued emphasis on economic development, offering tax breaks and incentives to all businesses that are growing or expanding, not just new businesses.lower energy costs.workers' compensation insurance reform.public works projects to keep people working.The Alfred University Business Climate Survey is the second round in a series Rummel plans to conduct on a periodic basis to enable her to track, over time, how businesses in New York State are reacting to the economic climate.Rummel commissioned Harris Interactive to conduct a mail survey of 1,400 businesses across the state.About 25 percent (360) responded, giving the survey a 95 percent confidence rating, meaning that if the same survey were to be conducted again, in 95 times out of 100, the results would be the same.Respondents mirrored the state's business profile: 71 percent were upstate and 29 percent downstate (New York City, as well as Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester and Rockland counties), and 94 percent were small businesses (employing fewer than 100)."We hoped to continue the survey on a periodic basis to begin to capture trends for small businesses and to determine if their perceptions of the national and state business climates correlated with their perceptions of their own businesses' future," said Rummel."What we could not predict, however, when we planned our second round was the cataclysmic events of Sept. 11, and the effect they would have on the entire nation."Rummelmodified her survey instrument to ask business owners how the events of Sept. 11 affected their businesses, and what the state could do to speed recovery."We expected to see some impact, certainly, but we did not really anticipate that a full two-thirds of the respondents would say the events of Sept. 11 have had a continuing negative impact on their businesses," said Rummel."Many of them, most likely those from the New York metropolitan area, said their business came to a halt in the days immediately after Sept. 11," said Rummel."Some said their businesses were still down 30 to 50 percent from what they were before the attack, although others said they were starting to see things pick up."Business owners told Rummel that consumers and clients are reluctant to make large purchases or place major contracts.They see their lines of credit tightening, and they say their customers are slower paying what's owed.One-third of the respondents said they suffered little or no negative impact, and some said they actually saw an increased after Sept. 11."Businesses told us that people are staying home more, buying food and things to do at home, such as hobbies and crafts.They also say people are stocking up on staple items to have on hand in case of another emergency," Rummel said.Respondents were asked questions aimed at determining their perceptions of the national business climate.In both May and November, only three percent thought business conditions in the country would improve over the next three months.In November, however, 84 percent said business conditions are worse than a year ago, compared to 68 percent who answered that way in May.The earlier survey found 29 percent thought conditions were about the same as a year ago, and in the more recent survey, 14 percent said conditions were the same."We are seeing increased uncertainty about the future," said Rummel."Business owners are bracing for more bad news."More (74% cf.59% in May) think unemployment will rise.Forty-seven percent said

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