LANSING – The Small Business Association of Michigan, in a press release, said it strongly supports Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson’s effort to repeal the Single Business Tax through a petition drive that would give voters a chance to decide in November.
?We wholeheartedly back this effort to eliminate the SBT even sooner than its scheduled 2009 repeal, we are financially supporting the petition drive and we are urging small business owners to sign the petitions,? said SBAM CEO Rob Fowler.
Fowler said that the supposed lack of a replacement tax plan should not be an excuse to hold back the SBT repeal.
?There are a number of plans being discussed,” Fowler said. “We have in fact been working closely with Rep. Fulton Sheen, who is leading the effort to develop tax alternatives that will encourage economic development and job growth. The SBT is onerous but so is the overall tax structure in Michigan. It?s not a structure that is conducive to a state like Michigan that is trying to revitalize economic growth. Eliminating the SBT is only one element of vitally needed fundamental tax reform.”
Fowler described the SBT repeal effort as an urgent mission.
“What meager level of job growth we?ve had in this state is due almost solely to small enterprises,” he said. “They need help soon, as evidenced by SBAM latest quarterly Small Business Barometer survey that found that only 19 percent of small business owners give a positive rating to Michigan?s business environment.”
For more information, click on SBAM.Org
