The state Senate tax committee heard from three local leaders Thursday on why they believe Emporia needs to be included in a bill that offers tax credits for capital investment in disaster areas.
City Manager Matt Zimmerman and Emporia Main Street Executive Director Kayla Oney went to the Statehouse in Topeka to testify on behalf of including Emporia in Senate Bill 445. Sen. Jim Barnett is proposing an amendment to the bill that would count the economic situation in Emporia as a qualifying disaster following the Tyson layoffs. Barnett also testified to the Committee on Assessment and Taxation on Thursday.
Bill 445 would provide up to a 10 percent tax credit to any person or business who makes a capital investment in a business located in a city “substantially damaged by disaster” if the investment is made within three years of the date of the disaster. Under the bill’s current language, a disaster emergency has to have been declared in the affected area by the president. Right now, the bill’s language doesn’t include tax credits in cities damaged by economic disasters such as the Tyson layoffs.
Zimmerman said that the bill’s current version targets areas that were victim to natural disasters such as last year’s Greensburg tornado. He used facts and figures to make his case that Emporia should be part of the legislation, including the fact that the Tyson layoffs, including contractors, affect more than 10 percent of Lyon County’s work force.
“What (the bill is) trying to do ... is say 2007 was a really bad year in Kansas, which it was,” Zimmerman said, “starting from the blizzard in January/February all the way to the ice and snow storms in mid-December. So that’s what the bill is trying to do, and what we’re saying is ‘You know what, an economic disaster is just as painful and has just as much impact on the community as a natural disaster.’”
Zimmerman said the community needed a broad-based set of tools to work through the Tyson crisis.
“So this bill, I think, is critical to getting the private sector to help us out by replacing jobs and by increasing tax base as part of a broad-based recovery program,” he said.
Oney said she was at the Statehouse as an Emporia citizen and as a member of the Kansas Downtown Development Association, not necessarily as a representative of Emporia Main Street. Oney said her remarks took less than a couple of minutes.
“We have very limited time, so I just hit a couple of high points and emphasized that the reason I was very interested in this bill was because it would help any level of business, including small businesses, and made the point that small businesses are a very huge part of Emporia’s tax base,” Oney said. “And it’s important for the small businesses to get those credits just like larger businesses.”
The bill stipulates that the total amount of the tax credit for any one taxpayer cannot exceed $100,000.
justthinkin (anonymous) says...
Let's see, Zimmy tells Emporian's that the Tyson situation won't be that bad, but he tells the legislature that it is a disaster. If I were the legislature - before I gave him the assistance - I'd ask him to be honest about which it is. As an Emporian, I'd like to ask him to stop blowing smoke. Try honesty on both fronts - it might just be the best policy.
February 17, 2008 at 10:50 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )