California, We Are Coming For You
According to a new report, the Golden Coast doesn’t have much on the Peach State when it comes to attracting business. Spectrum Location Solutions found that there have been up to 10,000 business disinvestments from the state of California since 2008 and Georgia has absorbed a good chunk of them. Georgia was ranked 8th in a list of states that benefitted the most from companies fleeing California and the Atlanta was ranked 9th in a list of cities that came out ahead.
Similar to Georgia, California offers business incentives including tax credits for the film industry. Unlike Georgia though, California is considering tax hikes on fuel, vehicles, business properties. It already has an 8.84 percent corporate tax rate, which is a bit higher than Georgia’s 6 percent rate.
We’ve been sniping at California’s film industry for several years now, placing third in the country for the number of feature films in 2015. California increased its film tax credit in 2014 in response to competition from Georgia, but other benefits, such as the lack of unionized labor, keep drawing productions to the Peach State.
Governor Deal and the state legislature have made it abundantly clear that companies have little to fear from regulators or tax hikes down south. While the effect that attracting corporations has on the state’s overall economic well-being is unclear, it is undeniable that Georgia is one of the top states in the country for doing business.
About Author
Rob
Add a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Just FWIW, in a place like California, usually taxes go towards trying to make life better for citizens. Food safety, work safety, public spaces, art, culture, environmental protections, etc., make a better place to live. Some companies care less about those sort of things than others so they move. The point being- just being “good for business” is not the goal. It’s just a means to the goal. More jobs should equal more taxes which should equal enhanced living conditions. But if you give up the taxes in a deal you don’t get to do the stuff that makes it worth doing in the first place. All you get is more companies seeking low taxes and low-wage workers.
“More jobs should equal more taxes which should equal enhanced living conditions.”
I think if that were true New York and New Jersey would be utopia with everyone wanting to move there but as the late Lewis Grizzard wrote, “Nobody is going into an Atlanta bar tonight celebrating they have just been transferred to New Jersey.”
In addition to the 8.84 corporate tax the highest marginal state income tax rate in California is 13.3% so there is not much incentive for any productive person to stay.
And yet, with 772,55 households with over $1M in invest-able assets, California still ranks #1 in nation for the most millionaires. It seems similar to B’s analysis that people chose to live in places not based on raw tax incentives. Businesses on the other hand, not so much.
The very rich don’t care about the high individual rate so they stay. Its more the upper middle class that get hurt. Additionally much of the net worth is in overvalued real estate. A lot of folks flee California once they retire to escape the high taxes.
It’s not overvalued if you can sell it or lease it at that valuation.
Okay, maybe some folks would say ” inflated” but to me it’s overvalued.
It’s all very free-market in the end. Just like some people can’t afford to live in Buckhead, some aren’t going to be able to live in California. It’s a very naturally desirable place to live so it costs a lot to buy real estate and everything else flows from there. But those who can stay enjoy a very pleasant environment (for the most part). And obviously a state can tax themselves out of desirability, but I doubt they are there yet. The thing is, if you are going to have high taxes you better deliver something for it.
So…… why is that you have decided to make Georgia your home. You should be able to pass the bar in California right?
Fair enough. My point is that you made the decision to live here instead there. Georgia isn’t so bad as to make you want to leave.
October in Georgia at a UGA football game is enough to make me stay and if you are flying all the way to California to go camping you are missing out on some of the best places in North Georgia.
Hell, the no skeeters might be enough to make me move there!
In-n-Out ranks pretty low on my corporate burger list. Give me a Whata any day.
I’ second ACP. I visit In-n-Out every third day I’m in in So Cal.
Don’t know if In-n-Out Burger is similiar to Whattaburger, I’ll be having Whattaburger with green chili in ABQ in September!
What makes the quality of life better?
Crow about georgia’s right to work laws, then link to a deadline article talking about how much the IATSE local has grown.
The good jobs on good sets in Georgia are all union.