Worcester Business Journal

20 Worcester Business Journal • January 4, 2016 www.wbjournal.com Best Advertising Agency Best Web Design Firm Proud Winner of Two 2015 Best of Business Awards Join the WBJ's LinkedIn discussion group by scanning the code to the left on your smartphone. To scan the code, you need the NeoReader. Visit get.neoreader.com to download it onto your phone. Want to participate in the conversation? F L A S H P O L L T A L K B A C K CHAMBER: TAX RATE HURTS BUSINESS RECRUITING A vote by city council halted a slow transition back to a single tax rate that had been underway for five years. The split tax rate is like an addictive drug, it feels great starting out but withdrawal is so painful. At first if feels like a free ride to the residents, but businesses make decisions based on the total costs of a property, not just its price. The higher taxes come straight out of the rents they will pay, and therefore out of the value of the real estate. Commercial values go down, so after a few years the residential taxpayers are paying nearly as much as they would if there had been a flat tax all along. But the economy suffers, residents earn less, just a downward spiral. It is a darn shame that having gone through five years of the pain without much of the gain, Worcester is sliding back into the addiction, meaning more pain ahead (from the damaged economy if they keep the split, withdrawal pain if they go back towards even). - Anonymous MASS. HAS 400MW OF WIND POTENTIAL Massachusetts has the potential to generate up to 400 megawatts of wind power by 2020. Subsidies would be better spent on (photovoltaic) systems at existing properties that would reduce demand to the grid and not destroy the environment where installed. Additionally it would help people become more self-sufficient from utilities and responsible for energy consumption. - Larry Should companies make an effort to add more women to their boards? Corporate boards need more women N ew research has found that Massachusetts is still behind when it comes to diversity in the boardroom. The 13th Census of Women Directors and Executive Officers by The Boston Club found that women comprise 16.1 percent of board members at the state's 100 largest public companies. COMMENTS: Why should the state dictate the gender of a good board member? The board should consist of those with best capability to guide the company, regardless of their age, gender or race. I do believe that the best person for the job no matter race or gender should be the guideline, at the same time, diversity should be considered to be in alignment with the mission of the company (if it's to serve a diverse audience, then make sure diversity is covered on your board). It is a statistical FACT that boards with three woman or more have better long term performance. 1% Yes. A diverse board makes better decisions. 41% No. The best person for the position should be picked. 39% L ast week, the Worcester City Council voted on its 2016 tax rate, settling on a split rate that moves further away from a single tax rate. The rationale was lowering the impact on the residential tax payers. However, the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce has said that a single tax rate, which the city had been incrementally moving toward for the past five years, will help bring business to the city. Worcester should strive for a single-tax rate What successful business owner, when they have the choice,would pay two to three times the tax? They wouldn't be successful if they did. If the city engaged in a 10-year plan years ago to shift the tax burden a little each year, the city could have grown the business tax base and both the residents and businesses here in the city would have not suffered. Since they did not, the only way the city can attract any business is to offer a TIF. The city council here in Worcester does not have vision on what should be done for the long term for all of the people. Yes. It makes it more difficult to attract business. 53% No. This shift will naturally happen on its own. Yes. Businesses already here have it hard enough. 20% No. The issue isn't the split. It's the high taxes. 23% Does having a split tax rate hurt Worcester? Where is the option for A,B and C? Yes. More equality is needed among company boards. 19% 4% No. Businesses can absorb more than residential taxpayers.

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