The Loudoun Board of Supervisors has scrapped a planned increase in a business tax.
The board recently voted 5-4 against the increase in the Business, Professional and Occupational License (BPOL) tax rates, which had been part of the fiscal 2009 budget approved in April.
The plan would have raised the tax rate in six business categories by a total of $2.5 million annually.
“With the fiscal situation we’re in, small businesses are really suffering,” said Vice Chairman Susan Klimek Buckley, D-Sugarland Run, who voted against the tax. “To increase the BPOL tax would really send them over the edge.”
She said she supported the measure when it came before the board in March, but she changed her vote because of the “dramatic change” in the economy since then.
The proposal was met with significant opposition from the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce, whose board of directors voted unanimously in September to oppose the potential tax increase.
“We are grateful the Board of Supervisors has heeded the Loudoun County Chamber’s call to reject this business tax hike in the face of an economic downturn, and without a comprehensive plan in place to control the expenses of county government,” chamber President Tony Howard said.
The board was planning to discuss the tax increase at its Nov. 10 public hearing.
