Innovation Park building headquarter for the Prince William County Chamber of Commerce (Image by Prince William Chamber of Commerce)Prince William Chamber of Commerce sent letter to the Prince William Supervisors requesting that they do not approve an 18% "Tech Tax" increase for FY 2022.
March 2, 2021
Good Morning Members of the Board,
On behalf of the Prince William Chamber of Commerce and its 1,200+ Members, we STRONGLY encourage you not to support advertising the “Tech Tax” from $1.35 to $1.60, or a massive 18% increase. (The "Tech Tax" is officially known as the tangible computer and peripheral tax.)
We have attracted and grown an industry that accounts for 94% of all investment in the County. Even as other states and localities in Virginia and elsewhere are seeking to grow their data center and technology based business investment, Prince William County is seeking to increase the tax burden on a key industry driving our economy.
We have grave concerns over the unintended consequences from this action. Importantly, the impact extends beyond data centers. Based on conversations with County Staff, we have learned that over 4,000 businesses across Prince William County pay the “Tech Tax”. This includes computer-intensive businesses like service stations, small government contractors, and many others.
At a time where we are all still struggling through the COVID-19 Crisis, massively increasing taxes on our businesses will broadly signal unpredictability and instability in the county’s business climate and create unnecessary economic challenges.
We strongly encourage you to continue to have dialog with industry and business community stakeholders around the county’s tax policy in an effort to find consensus.
We ask that you stand up for the businesses in Prince William County and that you NOT advertise a massive 18% increase on businesses.
Please send the right message today, which is Prince William IS the best place to live, work, play and do business!
Thank you,
Ross
Ross W. Snare IV Senior Director of Operations and Government Affairs Prince William Chamber of Commerce
Support Bristow Beat - Donate Today!