Maine ranks #47 in tax climate for small business
The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council recently released their 2007 Small Business Survival Index, and Maine is paying dearly for its poor tax policies. We are ranked #47 in the tax portion of the ranking, in front of Iowa, Minnesota, and New Jersey.
SBEC’s Raymond Keating includes a chart and explanation here.
What’s worse is that CNN Money lists us in the 10 worst states for starting a business. Once again, we’re not able to shake our now-deserved reputation for being an unfriendly business state – all because our elected officials refuse to enact laws that would attract jobs and people. Here’s what the CNN Money web site says about Maine:
47. Maine
“Maine has so much scenic beauty,” says Kerrigan, “but scenic beauty can’t compensate for high taxes.” Starting a business in the state could be as rocky as its coastline: Property taxes are the second worst in the nation, and personal income and capital gains taxes are also amongst the highest. On the plus side, Maine boasts a highly skilled population.
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Over the past few years, I’ve heard too much from current and former politicians, together with alleged policy experts, claiming that all we need to do is change our attitude – and then Maine will become more economically vibrant. They say that Mainers are too negative – and if we all just changed our attitude about our state, we’d be alright.
What? When will Augusta wake up and realize that it is our government that needs to change their attitude – not the harworking Maine people? The data doesn’t lie. And we can either bury our head in the sand and wish these problems away – or we can demand substantive change from politicians. Lower our taxes, get rid of costly mandates, and stop the ridiculous and short-sighted band-aid solutions to simply get us from one budget cycle to the next.
Bill Becker