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Sacramento County, CA November 2, 2010 Election
Smart Voter

Reducing Elk Grove's High Business Fees Will Attract New Businesses and Jobs

By Jimmie Johnson

Candidate for Council Member; City of Elk Grove; Council District 4

This information is provided by the candidate
Last year, Jimmie Johnson organized the Old Town Elk Grove "First Fridays" event which helps small businesses in the area arrange special events once a month to increase customers and awareness. Incumbent Gary Davis and the City Council refused to fund it in favor of other programs. Without the City Council's financial support, Jimmie Johnson coordinated the program with the help of Councilmember Pat Hume and local shop owners, and the event has become an incredible success not only for the shop owners, but to the citizens of Elk Grove who enjoy the event.

Elsewhere in Elk Grove, however, the city is littered with empty store fronts. The programs Incumbent Gary Davis and the City Council favored have failed.

In this recession, Elk Grove must compete with the surrounding cities to recruit what few new businesses exist, and the jobs they bring. However, Elk Grove currently charges businesses some of the highest fee rates in the area. As an example, a building permit for a $1 million commercial structure in Elk Grove is 11% more than the same permit in Rancho Cordova, 85% more than in Galt, and 93% more than in the City of Sacramento.

We simply cannot compete with other cities that attract new businesses by charging lower fees. Jimmie Johnson supports permanent fee cuts in order to compete against surrounding cities during this recession, and bring jobs to Elk Grove.

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ca/sac Created from information supplied by the candidate: September 15, 2010 07:34
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