VP from Lithia says 2016 ballot measure to raise taxes on corporations would force companies to relocate.
BY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
As activists look to raise taxes at the expense of corporations, business leaders are turning to a familiar argument in hopes of dissuading voters.
VP of finance for Lithia Motors and others are saying, if passed, a 2016 ballot measure to raise taxes on corporations would force companies to relocate.
Oregon’s business community is ratcheting up its rhetoric against the union-backed corporate tax measure that would raise an estimated $2.6 billion a year for schools and other services, far more than any tax hike in modern Oregon history.
Business leaders are trying to make the case that while the proposed tax initiative is aimed at out-of-state corporations, it could particularly hit some key homegrown companies – from low-margin businesses such as Lithia Motors to the software startups crowding into Portland.
“We have this burgeoning software business in Oregon that I think would be significantly affected,” said Ken Thrasher, a former Fred Meyer CEO and board chairman of Portland-based Compli. “We run the risk of these jobs being located somewhere else where we don’t have to pay the tax.”
(READ MORE: OregonLive.com)
The bill has yet to get a spot on the 2016 ballot as union groups are still in the signature-gathering process.
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