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How does Massachusetts compare to those states? Jay
Yeah bit misleading if we were to look at the top states for growth, If you look at the top ten states for GDP growth you have
Washington
Colorado
Nevada
Arizona
Utah
California
Georgia
Idaho
Massachusetts
Texas
Of those the only ones without income tax are Washington Texas and Nevada. Some like CA and MA have rather high tax rates. Taxes have an effect no doubt but lets not think slashing them is a cure all for what ails us.
Also there is some studies that suggest that moving taxes up and down have the known effect, that with time those effect diminish. In other words if you can keep taxes consistent for say 5-7 years and keep them out of the news cycle the physiological effect of them is limited.
Yeah bit misleading if we were to look at the top states for growth, If you look at the top ten states for GDP growth you have
Washington
Colorado
Nevada
Arizona
Utah
California
Georgia
Idaho
Massachusetts
Texas
Of those the only ones without income tax are Washington Texas and Nevada. Some like CA and MA have rather high tax rates. Taxes have an effect no doubt but lets not think slashing them is a cure all for what ails us.
Also there is some studies that suggest that moving taxes up and down have the known effect, that with time those effect diminish. In other words if you can keep taxes consistent for say 5-7 years and keep them out of the news cycle the physiological effect of them is limited.
Ideal is a realistic tax rate that businesses can live with that they can be confident will never ever be hiked from there. That is the Gold Standard for a quality of life and business growth balance.
This is better than some lower tax rates in budget deficit states where the businesses know hikes are on the way or else major amenities will be cut or in any budget dilemma, where great desires of the people cannot ever be funded now and forever because of an anti-spending governing body.
And the worst of course is high taxes and still a deficit and poorly funded institutions, which we have.
Happiness is certainty where people know what they have to pay in taxes and are built to profit net of those foreseen costs. I don’t think ANY US state is at this level but closer to the gold standard can come in 2 ways, the first being that highly valued institutions are currently adequately funded and per capita incomes are sufficient to cover taxes, and the second is that taxes are both low and sustainable.
Last edited by Siberiaboy; 09-11-2018 at 11:55 AM..
Business entity tax.
Personal property tax on business equipment
Zoning regulations thou a local issue are a big driver I see for small business saying it's not friendly here.
DEEP has long wait times for approvals that they are required to do.
A lot depends on what kind of business you run. If you want to build a body shop your gonna have a lot more issues in CT then if you start a Financial firm.
I answered this before, but here goes again.
Business entity tax is $250 every two years. It can't be paid for only one year, so I guess in theory if someone wanted to open a business that would only exist for one year they would lose $125. Sounds like a business killer to me.
Personal property tax on business equipment applies to all business. Those taxes can also be deducted from business income. Any business owner who doesn't know that is a fool.
DEEP permits are for projects that are in or close to wet lands. This is statewide and applications have to be acted on within 90 days to my knowledge. The "long times" you are referring to was lifted from the CBIA website. Extensions are possible. The back up is due to too few DEEP employees. No one here or on the CBIA is ever going to recommend hiring more state workers though.
Zoning rules are generally strong in CT and I like it that way. I don't want a Chinese restaurant, auto repair garage, or shooting range opening up next door to my house. If someone really wants to open a business like that in a residential area they need to do it in another state where they don't care about zoning.
Not surprising. Though Connecticut is a donor state, it does have a very high amount of Federal contracts. Mostly because of our plentiful defense contractors like Electric Boat, UTC and Sikorsky. Jay
Business entity tax is $250 every two years. It can't be paid for only one year, so I guess in theory if someone wanted to open a business that would only exist for one year they would lose $125. Sounds like a business killer to me.
Personal property tax on business equipment applies to all business. Those taxes can also be deducted from business income. Any business owner who doesn't know that is a fool.
DEEP permits are for projects that are in or close to wet lands. This is statewide and applications have to be acted on within 90 days to my knowledge. The "long times" you are referring to was lifted from the CBIA website. Extensions are possible. The back up is due to too few DEEP employees. No one here or on the CBIA is ever going to recommend hiring more state workers though.
Zoning rules are generally strong in CT and I like it that way. I don't want a Chinese restaurant, auto repair garage, or shooting range opening up next door to my house. If someone really wants to open a business like that in a residential area they need to do it in another state where they don't care about zoning.
I must agree Zoning rules actually are what make Connecticut look pretty. A model design of this is Glastonbury where you have everything in very close distance but beautifully separated out.
A really nice auxiliary Street is Oakwood with paving, precision tools, art, children’s My Gym, painting, engraving, fitness, all small businessy and hand craftsmanship stuff
Rows of sidewalk family houses
All restaurant cluster
As for the business entity tax of $250 every 2 years, that’s not going to deter a business that has to be a joke. The upfront costs of running even a tiny business can easily top $100,000-$250,000 between building, equipment, legal consulting, accountant pay, hiring, insurance costs, inventory spoilage. What is $125, a half hour of work?
I must agree Zoning rules actually are what make Connecticut look pretty. A model design of this is Glastonbury where you have everything in very close distance but beautifully separated out.
A really nice auxiliary Street is Oakwood with paving, precision tools, art, children’s My Gym, painting, engraving, fitness, all small businessy and hand craftsmanship stuff
Rows of sidewalk family houses
All restaurant cluster
Where are you talking about? I'd love to see hand craftsmanship stuff in that area. Sounds like you are combining Oak, Oakwood and Commerce Streets but there are only a few houses and one restaurant that closes at 2pm. It's an area that was developed quite a long time ago.
Many of the houses on Oak were torn down in recent years, across the street from Stop & Shop. I'm sure the last couple will be gone in the next 5 years for development.
Main St near Hebron Ave, and Hebron Ave closest Main had a bunch of cutesy shops for years. (Emmy Lou's, Mahogany Shoppe, Caribbean Charm. Plenty of food, houses and other businesses in that area too.
Business entity tax is $250 every two years. It can't be paid for only one year, so I guess in theory if someone wanted to open a business that would only exist for one year they would lose $125. Sounds like a business killer to me.
Personal property tax on business equipment applies to all business. Those taxes can also be deducted from business income. Any business owner who doesn't know that is a fool.
DEEP permits are for projects that are in or close to wet lands. This is statewide and applications have to be acted on within 90 days to my knowledge. The "long times" you are referring to was lifted from the CBIA website. Extensions are possible. The back up is due to too few DEEP employees. No one here or on the CBIA is ever going to recommend hiring more state workers though.
Zoning rules are generally strong in CT and I like it that way. I don't want a Chinese restaurant, auto repair garage, or shooting range opening up next door to my house. If someone really wants to open a business like that in a residential area they need to do it in another state where they don't care about zoning.
Business entity tax tends to discourage people from starting micro business or part time business on the side. If you want to sell Crafts on ETSY for instance as a side deal the $125.00 is a real bummer. I have actually personally shut down a small side business thanks to the cost of business entity and insurance in the state. Sounds small potatoes but lots of business does start this way.
Not every state charges property tax on personal property. If you run a business that does not have an exemption for the majority of your equipment it makes other states more attractive. A deduction does not make up for the cost of the tax.
I'm fine with hiring more DEEP to clear the backlog which is real. Running a golf course for instance in CT puts several parts of your business under DEEP. Auto repair business car washes body shops etc all have parts that come under DEEP. Washing cars in a car dealership not connected to city sewer for instance means having a discharge permit for the waste water and a place to discharge it. Now I'm not saying these need to be done away with but the process is time consuming and costly.
Zoning may be what kills our state. Not having the flexibility to allow business and multifamily housing in a changing world might doom us to the dark ages. Newington blocked putting condos and housing near the busway for instance. That's exactly the kind of growth the busway was designed to stimulate but local zoning laws and opposition killed it. Now there is a balance here with allowing anything and allowing nothing but most towns in CT lean way far towards the allow nothing.
Getting as permit to do much of anything in Glastonbury (at least used to be ) a pain in the butt. A friend ran a business in town years ago. They got into a fight over a dumpster behind his building. He offered to fence it in. The wouldn't approve the permit for the fence. He wanted to change the sign out front to have lights nope blocked. Now part of this was back in the day 5-6 families made up the majority of people in positions of power in the town, so they could do what they wanted with impunity. Hopefully this has since changed.
Where are you talking about? I'd love to see hand craftsmanship stuff in that area. Sounds like you are combining Oak, Oakwood and Commerce Streets but there are only a few houses and one restaurant that closes at 2pm. It's an area that was developed quite a long time ago.
Many of the houses on Oak were torn down in recent years, across the street from Stop & Shop. I'm sure the last couple will be gone in the next 5 years for development.
Main St near Hebron Ave, and Hebron Ave closest Main had a bunch of cutesy shops for years. (Emmy Lou's, Mahogany Shoppe, Caribbean Charm. Plenty of food, houses and other businesses in that area too.
Serbiaboy May be referring to Melzens Farm Supply on Oak Street or Cofiells on Kreger Lane when he mentions handcraft businesses. It does seem he talking about the whole industrial/office Park section of town. It is nice but could use more places to eat. Hebron Avenue heading into the center at lunchtime is a nightmare every work day. It also could use more sidewalks. There are tons of workers out walking on their break but many must walk on the street.
Glastonbury does have some nice architecture in its business districts. Much of the is owed to longtime Planning and Zoning Board member, Patricia Low. She sat on the board’s architecture review committee for decades and she was not shy about demanding quality design. She told Stop & Shop that their then proposed Oak Street store would look like no other Stop & Shop in the country. That is why the loading docks facing New London Turnpike look like barns with stone foundations. When Stop & Shop changed the design of the greenhouse on the front of the store during store construction, she stopped construction and demanded they install the greenhouse that was shown on the approved plans. She got it changed. She also is the reason that the Glastonbury Home Depot is brick instead of their ugly beige stucco, why McDonalds on Main Street did not have arches and why you see architectural details and so many cupolas on our commercial buildings. Sadly she died earlier this year. Too bad more towns don’t have someone like her. Jay
Serbiaboy May be referring to Melzens Farm Supply on Oak Street or Cofiells on Kreger Lane when he mentions handcraft businesses. It does seem he talking about the whole industrial/office Park section of town. It is nice but could use more places to eat. Hebron Avenue heading into the center at lunchtime is a nightmare every work day. It also could use more sidewalks. There are tons of workers out walking on their break but many must walk on the street.
Glastonbury does have some nice architecture in its business districts. Much of the is owed to longtime Planning and Zoning Board member, Patricia Low. She sat on the board’s architecture review committee for decades and she was not shy about demanding quality design. She told Stop & Shop that their then proposed Oak Street store would look like no other Stop & Shop in the country. That is why the loading docks facing New London Turnpike look like barns with stone foundations. When Stop & Shop changed the design of the greenhouse on the front of the store during store construction, she stopped construction and demanded they install the greenhouse that was shown on the approved plans. She got it changed. She also is the reason that the Glastonbury Home Depot is brick instead of their ugly beige stucco, why McDonalds on Main Street did not have arches and why you see architectural details and so many cupolas on our commercial buildings. Sadly she died earlier this year. Too bad more towns don’t have someone like her. Jay
Yes Jay you got it! You described well what what I was trying to say. Well one thing I can credit to Patricia Low is having no idea who she was, I could see firsthand she made a special mark on Glastonbury in her lifetime that I could observe without even trying to do so. Zoning done well can be an art form like playing an instrument.
On zoning it’s not a question of why do it, but if/when you’re gonna do it, do it with love for the sense of place. Thank you Patricia.
Last edited by Siberiaboy; 09-12-2018 at 07:23 PM..
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Jay
