The bill, sponsored by Sen. Ken Toole, D-Helena, would impose a 1 percent tax on gross retail receipts between $10 million and $20 million; a 1.5 percent tax on receipts between $20 million and $30 million; and a 2 percent tax on receipts above $30 million.
The results of this proposed bill.
Costco has put a hold on plans to build a larger store here in Kalispell, and won't be building any new stores in the state for now, because a bill proposing a tax on "box stores" is again before the Legislature, a company executive said.
"We feel this proposal is punitive against Costco and we are going to hold off on any additional investment in Montana until this is resolved," Doug Schutt, chief operating officer for Costco's Northern Division, said Friday.
So, what is happening to the jobs because of this bill. Construction jobs gone, employment at the store gone. Real good way of helping Montanan's with good-paying jobs. Drive the businesses out of the state so they can't employee people. What a wonderful plan.
Liz Harris, president of the Flathead area economic development group Jobs Now, said she can understand Costco's position and she considers the box-store tax problematic.
"It does nothing to enhance our statewide reputation as a reasonable place to do business," she said.
Any plan conceived in moderation must fail when the circumstances are set in extremes. Klemens Wenzel Neponuk Lothar
