Proposal Could Give Businesses a Tax Break for Hiring L.A. Residents
If you've been paying attention to campaign commercials for the U.S. Senate and California's governor, the theme is jobs, jobs, jobs, thanks to high unemployment. Today, the L.A. City Council will consider a motion to give employers citywide a tax credit when they hire new employees who are Los Angeles residents.
“Los Angeles urgently needs jobs and we are competing against other cities, other states and other countries,” said Council President Eric Garcetti, who authored the motion. “This credit is aimed at driving hiring at existing Los Angeles firms.”
A previously enacted city measure eliminated the business tax for a firm's first three years in the city to encourage new businesses to move to L.A.
Today's motion asks for a tax ordinance to be created, that will have to be voted on later. As it stands now, businesses would get a tax credit between $1,000 and $5,000 -- the final amount to be decided upon later -- for their new L.A. hires until unemployment is reduced to pre-recession levels.