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Politics & Government

Bristol Township Slashes Business Tax 'To Spur Growth'

Bristol Township Business Coalition member believes tax should be eliminated altogether.

The Bristol Township Council, during a meeting Thursday night, voted unanimously to lower a tax that some residents and council members felt were inhibiting growth of business in the township.

The Non-Residential Unit Tax was a fee levied on businesses who wished to build new building within the township. With the most recent vote, the fee was cut in half from $2 per square foot to $1 per square foot. The tax previously had an almost 800 percent increase since 2000, when it was only $0.25 per square-foot.

“... If (lowering the Non-Residential Unit Tax) is going to bring business and spur growth, then this is definitely a good thing,” said Council President Rick Pluta, during at a township meeting in early May, when lowering the tax was first proposed.

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Issues with the Non-Residential Unit Tax were brought to the council's attention when Township Solicitor Russ Sacco informed members of council of a complaint from an anonymous business. The business, Sacco said, wished to move from a smaller warehouse into a 200,000 square-foot new facility. By the previous cost, the business would need to pay almost $500,000 in taxes in order to pay for the new facility. With the new tax, they will have to pay $200,000.

While the lowering of the tax may mean new business growth, it also means less revenue for the township's coffer. On average, the township received over $70,000 annually in sporadic funding from the Non-Residential Unit Tax.

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Some business owners, while happy with the decision made by the township, felt the changes didn't go far enough. Business owner and head of the Bristol Township Business Coalition, Gerard Lykon, said he feels the entire tax should be temporarily expunged.

“We have empty lots all around here, ready to be built on,” said Lykon. “I think if we want to spur growth we should get rid of (the tax) entirely, even if only for a couple years -- it'll bring many more businesses in.”

According to Lykon's theory, the temporary suspension of the unit tax would bring in more businesses into the township which he says “Will mean more taxes, more jobs and more opportunities.”  

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