New Jersey will be out a total of 225 jobs in July, when two big-name companies shift select operations to other states, according to filings with the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The state’s heavy tax burden may have helped to drive them out, according to one Rutgers University economics professor.
E-Trade Financial will close its 171-person Jersey City customer service unit July 5, according to the financial service’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, Act filing with the state. Garden State employers generally must give at least 60 days notice before a plant is closed, or when mass layoffs — usually defined as targeting 50 or more employees — are planned.
The customer service jobs are being moved to E-Trade locations in Utah and Georgia, according to spokeswoman Tina Martineau.
“We remain committed to Jersey City,” including the retention of its offices in the city's Harborside Financial Center and several jobs, including in the legal and compliance arenas, she said.
Another 54 jobs will be lost beginning July 31, when Archer Daniels Midland Co. shutters its Glassboro cocoa facility, according to the company’s WARN filing.
“The company is in negotiations with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 152 regarding the effects of the closing,” said ADM spokesman Roman Blahoski. “Production at the Glassboro facility will be transferred to a new ADM cocoa facility in Hazleton, Pennsylvania.”
Some of the employees at the Glassboro facility “will have the opportunity to transfer to the Hazleton plant,” he added.
“New Jersey is a high-tax state, and that can drive companies away,” said John Worrall, an economics professor at the Rutgers School of Business-Camden. Though he has no inside knowledge about the decisions, “research indicates that high tax burdens and other costs can make a big difference in corporate location decisions.”
“In New Jersey’s case, it’s not just the income taxes,” he said. “We’ve also got high property taxes and auto insurance costs that can influence decision-makers.”
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Monday, July 27, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Health insurance tax will burden business
In an effort to raise $100 million to help balance another budget deficit, the Corzine administration is poised to impose a 125 percent tax on health insurers throughout New Jersey.This legislation will have catastrophic results for a state in which 1.7 million residents currently lack health insurance and whose business community has been decimated by a crushing tax burden, inane bureaucracy and stifling regulations. This will lead to higher health insurance premiums for employers who provide coverage.
Small business employers, many of which offer their workers health insurance, will be particularly hard hit, as they already operate at small profit margins. This astronomical tax hike will force many to drop their coverage, adding to the state's growing list of uninsured workers and their families.
According to the New Jersey Business and Industry Association's annual Health Benefits Survey, for most of the state's smallest companies — those with two to 19 employees — sponsoring coverage already has fallen as costs have risen. This tax increase will be the nail in their coffins.
Gov. Jon Corzine and his Democratic colleagues contend competition will keep prices low, similar to the auto marketplace. That simply isn't true. In New Jersey, more than 70 automobile insurance companies compete for business. In contrast, only seven health insurance companies do the same — again, some by razor-thin profit margins.
The domino effect will be felt on the local government level as well. Since many municipalities purchase their health insurance in the public marketplace, their premiums also will increase, resulting in higher property taxes for homeowners.
While Democrats consistently harp about providing universal or at least more accessible health care, they have gone above and beyond the call to price health care out of any range of affordability in New Jersey. I'm sure we're not the only ones who see the irony in that.
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Small business employers, many of which offer their workers health insurance, will be particularly hard hit, as they already operate at small profit margins. This astronomical tax hike will force many to drop their coverage, adding to the state's growing list of uninsured workers and their families.
According to the New Jersey Business and Industry Association's annual Health Benefits Survey, for most of the state's smallest companies — those with two to 19 employees — sponsoring coverage already has fallen as costs have risen. This tax increase will be the nail in their coffins.
Gov. Jon Corzine and his Democratic colleagues contend competition will keep prices low, similar to the auto marketplace. That simply isn't true. In New Jersey, more than 70 automobile insurance companies compete for business. In contrast, only seven health insurance companies do the same — again, some by razor-thin profit margins.
The domino effect will be felt on the local government level as well. Since many municipalities purchase their health insurance in the public marketplace, their premiums also will increase, resulting in higher property taxes for homeowners.
While Democrats consistently harp about providing universal or at least more accessible health care, they have gone above and beyond the call to price health care out of any range of affordability in New Jersey. I'm sure we're not the only ones who see the irony in that.
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