Lee businesses to pols: cut taxes

Another no-brainer news flash for Lee County politicians: A recent survey of business owners in Lee County says local governments should cut business taxes to attract new companies to the area.

In the May survey of 224 business executives by the Fort Myers Regional Partnership, 30% of the respondents cited the need to cut business taxes, second most important behind the availability of skilled workers.

More than half of business owners in Lee County are confident that business will improve in the next year, but they're not all as eager to hire people.

In fact, hiring plans by Lee County businesses are unchanged from a year ago, according to a survey by the Fort Myers Regional Partnership. Only a quarter of those surveyed plan to hire more people and 6% plan to reduce their labor force.

Rising fuel and healthcare costs are business owners' chief concerns. One quarter of respondents said high gas prices had a significant impact on their operations.

While politicians can only dream about lowering fuel and healthcare costs, they can certainly lower your taxes. Maybe business owners would start feeling a little better about hiring people if they felt politicians were on their side.