January 13, 2014

SAN DIEGO BUSINESS JOURNAL

www.sdbj.com

Page 39

COMMENTARY
The Jobs Coalition officially launched its campaign Dec. 27 to overturn the City Councils decision to raise taxes in the COMMENTARY form of increased linkage fees Jerry Sanders on some businesses by as much as 750 percent. We now have less than a month until Jan. 23 to collect 34,000 valid signatures. We need your help to ensure that this effort is successful, ultimately forcing the City Council to rescind its ill-conceived decision or to let voters decide if they want this tax on jobs. The city, under this proposal, will charge a small business choosing to expand by 10,000 square feet more than $42,000. A large business, like Qualcomm Inc., which has announced plans for 1.2 million square feet of expansion, would pay approximately $6.4 million. The financial impact is real and severe. This tax cannot be financed, meaning businesses must come up with cash to pay this tax, which is why it will make job creation even more difficult in San Diego. I urge you, your friends, family and co-workers to sign the Jobs Coalitions petition to ensure that San Diego remains competitive and economically viable. Petition gatherers will be stationed outside grocery stores and shopping malls around the city of San Diego during the next few weeks. Join us now as we work to save San Diegos jobs.

Editorials, letters, columns and other opinions

Seeking Collaborative Effort to Defeat Jobs Tax

Development Corp., BIA San Diego (Building Industry Association), NAIOP (Commercial Real Estate Development Association) and BOMA San Diego (Building Owners and Managers Association). Weve come together to overturn what supporters of this tax hike call a housing impact fee or linkage fee. Many local employers call it a jobs-killing tax. Its a jobs tax because businesses of all kinds including nonprofits, hospitals and educational institutions will now face an additional 375 to 750 percent tax on all new development, expansion and some remodeling. At a time when our local economy remains sluggish, this jobs tax could easily push us back into a recession. It will certainly cause some businesses to scale back or eliminate expansion plans, which will reduce job growth. Other companies will take their business and local jobs elsewhere, and many more companies simply wont consider moving to San Diego. At a time when our economy remains fragile, we cannot afford to put jobs at risk. subsidized housing is minimal. In fact, the most optimistic projections show this tax increase could generate 100 units per year, but there are more than 45,000 families waiting for subsidized housing. It is time to find a real and sustainable answer for affordable housing rather than attempting to fix it with a Band-Aid that offers no long-term solution and will hurt our economy. Members of our coalition put forward more than 20 alternative funding recommendations and policy reforms, none of which were seriously considered or forwarded to the City Council before its narrow 5-4 approval of the jobs-killing tax. Following the Housing Commissions recommendation to increase this tax by approximately 375 to 750 percent, leaders from the Chamber, Economic Development Corp. and BIA met with several City Council members and interim Mayor Todd Gloria. We proposed doubling the tax over five years. That was rejected. We then proposed an immediate doubling of the tax and automatic future increases based on a building cost index. That, too, was rejected. Its clear that the goal was to tax local businesses. When bad policies arise that jeopardize our economy and our jobs, it is the responsibility of San Diegans to stand up and fight. In the case of the jobs tax, the Jobs Coalition, business leaders and members of the community have come together to stand up against this ill-conceived policy to highlight its long-term negative effects on our communities and ultimately to let the voters decide. Please join our effort today. For more information, go to www. stopthejobstax.org. Jerry Sanders is president and CEO of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.

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Bob Baranski bbaranski@sdbj.com 858-277-0722 EDITORIAL

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Reo Carr rcarr@sdbj.com 858-277-1740

Managing Editor

Tony Quesada tquesada@sdbj.com 858-634-4623

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Tom York tyork@sdbj.com

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Mike Allen mallen@sdbj.com 858-277-6971

Reporters

Steve J. Adamek sadamek@sdbj.com 858-277-6591 Stephanie R. Glidden sglidden@sdbj.com 858-634-4636 Brad Graves bradg@sdbj.com 858-277-6586 Lou Hirsh lhirsh@sdbj.com 858-277-8904 Meghana Keshavan mkeshavan@sdbj.com 858-277-6359
Photographers

Melissa Jacobs mj@sandiegophoto.com Stephen Whalen peak15@roadrunner.com RESEARCH

Researcher

Zombie Tax
To make matters worse, this jobskiller is also a zombie tax because it will continue to automatically increase year after year without any review or approval by elected officials. In 1990, San Diegos unemployment rate was lower than todays, and the linkage fee was actually cut in half in order to spur economic activity and create jobs. An increase to the fee was defeated in 2011 in order to protect jobs and save San Diegos economic recovery. Proponents of the fees claim that this massive tax increase will pay for subsidized housing. Unfortunately, while the hit to businesses and jobs is severe, the impact on San Diegos

Leslie Fulton lfulton@sdbj.com 858-634-4635 ADVERTISING

Sales Manager

Dale Ganzow dganzow@sdbj.com 858-277-4832

National Sales Manager

Linda Rohrer lrohrer@sdbj.com 858-634-4627

Director of Business Development

Steve Miller smiller@sdbj.com 858-277-6499

Senior Account Executive

The Coalition
The Jobs Coalition represents more than 50 regional businesses and organizations, including the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, San Diego Regional Economic

Lauren Mannella lmannella@sdbj.com 858-277-6595

Account Executives

Rick Bushree rbushree@sdbj.com 858-277-6692 Korey Castillo koreyc@sdbj.com 858-277-6397 Kendahl Stein kstein@sdbj.com 858-277-1516

Banking:
from page 3

Sales Administrator

Yates is well-known in local banking circles, having spearheaded the founding of Regents Bank, which was acquired by Grandpoint Capital of Los Angeles in 2012. After that transaction, Yates was named president of Grandpoint Bank, a job he left last year. I have three sons who are living in San Diego, and [I] wanted to be closer

to them, he said. Before his hiring was blessed by regulators, Yates had been working as a consultant to NBB since October. He has been a banker for 34 years, and he worked at Mellon 1st Business Bank, Union Bank and Manufacturers Bank in Los Angeles.

In the Beginning
For mer CEO McGill was the driving force in founding NBB, which launched in 1997, and focused on

providing banking services to lowand moderate-income areas. About 60 percent of its portfolio is concentrated in these areas. Kurt Chilcott, a director on NBBs board, said McGill safely steered the bank through one of the most severe financial crises of our time. As chairman, McGill will assist Yates in customer retention, shareholder relations and providing strategic direction, Chilcott said.

Kathi McArthur kmcarthur@sdbj.com 858-634-4631

Supplements Editor

Patti Anderson panderson@sdbj.com 858-277-6359

ext. 3124

ART & PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT

Director of Art & Production

Michael S. Domine mdomine@sdbj.com 858-634-4628 CIRCULATION & EVENTS

Director of Circulation, Marketing & Events

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Circulation New Business Development

Russ Havens rhavens@sdbj.com 858-634-4234

Marketing Coordinator

Insider:
from page 3

is scheduled to open in March. The countys Office of Emergency Services on Jan. 6 demonstrated an improved SD Emergency mobile app for Apple and Android devices that enables users to share disaster plans and send notifications when food, water and other items have been assembled for emergency kits. Target stores are donating two-person camping tents to the first 3,000 people to use the app to make preparations for the next emergency. Finally, the National City Tourism

Marketing District reports hotel occupancy taxes collected in 2013 by the citys 12 hostelries were up more than 13 percent compared with 2012. And theres even better news for this modest metropolis. The San Diego Tourism Authority issued a report stating that tourism was up 17 percent in National City in 2012 compared with 2011 the highest increase of any city the county for the 12-month period. Till next week. Contributing Editor Tom York writes the SDBJ Insider. You can reach him via email at tyork@sdbj.com or tom.york@ gmail.com.

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NEWSROOM
News tips and story ideas: Email us at sdbj@sdbj.com or visit our website, sdbj.com and click contact us. Letters to the editor, viewpoint submissions and corrections: Reo Carr, executive editor, rcarr@sdbj.com or 858.277.1740

Audrey Marlow amarlow@sdbj.com 858-277-6359 x 3145

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