One of the questions last night was how do we attract and retain small businesses in Alexandria. There were a lot of good answers about making the government easier to work with, more predictable and transparent — all things we are making good progress on and can do more to improve. There was talk about cutting taxes on business. That was also a lot of talk about improving the convenience of buses and mass transit in the city so people could get to work easier, improving bike paths, hiring more traffic cops, building new metros, getting more city staff to live in the city and more. It can be hard to reconcile all of the things candidates want to spend money on with their calls for dramatic reductions in taxes. It seems to me that Alexandria residents and businesses are smarter than that.
Alexandria has a substantially lower property tax for business than Arlington or Fairfax — about 20% less. And we have one of the lowest overall tax burdens for residents in the region. I agree taxes need to be fair and I know that none of us like paying them, especially with a bad economy. There is clear work to do at the state level to improve the way we tax business (getting rid of the stupid BPOL tax to start) and improve the way we tax residents (moving away from an over-reliance on property taxes would help seniors, people that have lost their jobs and lower income residents). But we also have to recognize the basic fact that good schools, good roads, working sewers, a good quality of life and convenient transportation matter; it all impacts the bottom line of business as well as our own home values.
Businesses want to locate in places where crime is low and schools are good. Business wants to locate in communities with a good workforce. We certainly need to focus on the costs that businesses must bear, especially now. We also have to invest in the community attributes that create a favorable business climate — things like keeping crime low, improving schools, and convenient transportation systems.
I don’t think its an accident that Alexandria has one of the lowest office vacancy rates in the region or that our economy, while struggling, is doing better than many of our neighbors. Smart fiscal management and careful investments in our quality of life have made us very competitive and desirable. We have work to do without a doubt, but I don’t think we should walk away from a strategy that has put us in a better position that most of our peers in the region.
