You really can't ''invest in businesses'' as a municipality.
Laconia has expanded the options for light industry over the years, but didn't pay attention to the effects of BPT/BET, energy, and transportation costs in the equation. Franklin learned that when the negotiations over Polyclad broke down and the decision was to relocate as many workers to plants down south and out west.
We had seen the same thing just a few years before when Hadco was purchased by Sanmina - so we knew the drill.
The idea to lower BPT/BET to at least equal to the lowest rates in the northeast quad was a long negotiation also. Havenstein felt an immediate drop of 2.5% would work. The math stated that dropping the rate would increase growth as an offset, but in years... not a single cycle. The thought was about 5/10th percent each budget... the proposal came out 4/10ths each budget cycle, and the Legislature finally somewhat settled on 2/10ths every cycle. There are voices in opposition, but they are easy to put down as the growth of businesses means a growth in jobs (or at least not the loss of).
Laconia turned to tourism... but maybe didn't do it as well as Wolfeboro or Meredith. Which is strange, since Meredith has Rte 3 between the town retail area and the lake - a heavily travelled route.
|