Editor, The Liberty County Chamber of Commerce knows that our tax system can be a key factor in bringing jobs, economic development and quality of life improvements to the state that benefit all Georgians. Here in Liberty County, the chamber is extremely sensitive to the impact that tax policy has on existing business, as well as how it can encourage or stifle relocation or expansion decisions.
As part of the Georgia Chamber, our chamber also supported the creation of the Special Council on Tax Reform and Fairness for Georgians as it provides a historic opportunity for updating and modernizing the tax code. The council, which began its work in the summer of 2010, has undertaken a full and complete examination of the current tax structure, rates and compliance issues and will issue recommendations in time for action during the 2011 session of the General Assembly.
The chamber looks forward to seeing those recommendations and has encouraged the council to ensure that any changes are:
• competitive with other states and internationally
• sustainable, predictable and not targeted towards any one specific industry
The council also has been encouraged to:
• consider the potentially negative impact of taxing business inputs or business-to-business purchases
• consider dynamic economic modeling when analyzing the impact of proposed tax changes
• encourage economic growth, entrepreneurship and prosperity

— Leah Poole,
Liberty County Chamber of Commerce interim director, and the Georgia Chamber
of Commerce