Folks, there's a reason why they call the Great Commonwealth of Massachusetts Taxachusetts. That's reason number one why you should not move your business to Auburn, Taxachusetts.
Commercial taxes in many townships like Auburn are prohibitively and (as you'll see below) unapologetically high. While the taxes do in fact subsidize decent residential services, when taxes on businesses are so onerous, business leaders and entrepreneurs naturally look elsewhere to reduce their tax burden and thereby increase their bottom lines. Hence the flight of businesses from my adopted hometown of Auburn, Taxachusetts.
There's another reason, though: One far more insidious and pervasive to this area of Central Taxachusetts. It's an anti-business attitude, an attitude of "let's keep things the way they are because we like them that way". It's not necessarily The Old Boys' Club but rather a completely understandable (though lamentable) desire to stay within a long-established comfort zone.
But as shrewd and savvy business leaders know, staying within your comfort zone doesn't get you ahead.
Despite their claims of embracing new businesses, of repeatedly subsidizing sophisticated and costly marketing campaigns to attract new businesses, of redesigning logos and chasing ever-dwindling consumer dollars, in reality many civic leaders are content either to maintain the status quo or to actively discourage businesses from relocating to their little fiefdoms.
Nowhere is this more evident than in an article on Auburn highlighted in the December 10 issue of the Worcester Business Journal. (http://wbjournal.com/j/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2951&Itemid=139)
The article features remarks from Matteo Gentile, head of the Auburn Chamber of Commerce's business development task force, and owner of One Star Realty on Route 12, just over the Worcester line in Auburn. Route 12, he says, should be a beacon for businesses. The road gets a lot of vehicular traffic on its route through Auburn to Worcester.
Rather than flocking to Route 12, businesses are migrating away, leaving empty storefronts and contributing to the broken-down look so endemic to Worcester and the surrounding region.
The reason behind the business exodus? Auburn's dual-rate tax system. Currently, the rate for commercial property is twice the rate for residential property and higher than that of surrounding towns like Millbury.
Auburn's government has for the past 25 years blithely assumed that the town's proximity to major highways would be enough to attract businesses, business owners said.
Those same town officials - like many in the region - say they're doing the best they can to balance the need to support economic development, while keeping taxes low and quality of life high for residents.
But perceived favor to residential taxpayers means "businesses along Route 12 are leaving and they're not coming back, or they're not being replaced by anything else," Gentile said.
Auburn business owners have brought their case to Auburn's Board of Selectmen, a group of "townies" currently chaired by Elizabeth Prouty. Prouty said the board's responsibility is solely to the town's residents and keeping the residential tax rate low trumps all else.
"We are unwilling to change that system," she said. She said the board of selectmen asked the town accountant to figure out how much the average residential tax bill would increase if a flat tax were implemented and the board was told $900.
"It isn't worth it, and it isn't more fair to everybody," she said. "I know (commercial property owners) want a flat tax rate. Go to Millbury."
She actually said "go to Millbury."
You want to do business in Auburn? Go to Millbury. Reason Number Two. Case closed.
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