The Santa Clarita Valley Enterprise Zone officially ended benefits to local businesses on Dec. 31 due to California eliminating the entire program, officials announced Monday.
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On June 25, 2013, the State Senate of California passed a proposal to eliminate Enterprise Zones in California, according to a news release. Even with the program ending in 2013, Santa Clarita businesses were still eligible to obtain a voucher certificate for qualified employee hired through the end of 2014.
“We are disappointed the Santa Clarita Valley Enterprise Zone program has been eliminated. It has helped hundreds of businesses expand and hire thousands of employees,” Mayor Marsha McLean said. “The success of the program was made possible through the great local partnerships we have, and we would like to thank Los Angeles County, the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation and of course, our local businesses.”
An Enterprise Zone is a tax savings program that the State of California has created to provide tax incentives to business, according to a news release. In 1984, the state of California established 42 Enterprise Zones to encourage and stimulate growth, development and investment areas.
“Taxpayers who invest, operate, or locate a trade or business within an Enterprise Zone may be eligible for special tax incentives,” according to the news release.
Since the Enterprise Zone began in 2007, the program has provided approximately 600 local businesses with savings of over $542 million through hiring tax credits and issued 14,493 vouchers for people hired in local jobs in the Santa Clarita Valley, according to the news release.
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The Santa Clarita Valley Enterprise Zone received its designation on July 1, 2007, allowing businesses located within the city limits to utilize benefits such as the provision of hiring credits and tax breaks. In 2010, the city, Los Angeles County and the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation partnered and submitted an application to the State to expand the Zone to include the unincorporated Santa Clarita Valley, which was granted on January 1, 2011 thereby allowing businesses throughout the Santa Clarita Valley to take part in this program.
For more information on other incentives offered to businesses in Santa Clarita, including the Enterprise Zone replacement program, the New Employment Credit, visit the website here.