FUTURE DEMANDS CITY TAX REFORM SIMPLIFIED CODE BOOSTS BUSINESS.

Byline: Rocky Delgadillo Local View

I believe Los Angeles is on its way to being defined as the ``future city'' in this new global economy. But to reach that destination we need to persist in finding innovative and progressive ways to bolster our economic prowess.

A significant step toward that goal would be to reform our Byzantine business tax structure.

Recently the Business Tax Advisory Committee issued its ``Blueprint for Business Tax Reform,'' which outlines the current flaws in the Los Angeles business tax system. The report concludes that business tax rules are unjustifiably complex and expensive; business tax has significant and often unfair double tax provisions, with many tax professionals ignoring those provisions; tax rates are too high relative to neighboring cities; and the appeals system for assessments and refund claims is archaic and impenetrable, with millions of dollars falling through the cracks.

Mayor Richard J. Riordan understood these problems early in our administration and since then has directed his L.A. Business Team to reform Los Angeles' outdated business tax code.

When the mayor took office in 1993, one of his major goals was to make City Hall a friend to job-creating businesses. He has succeeded admirably - cutting red tape significantly and giving small businesses access to opportunities that they never had access to before. Riordan's achievements were recently acknowledged when Los Angeles jumped from not being rated when he took office to the No. 8 position on Fortune magazine's annual ranking of the 10 Best Cities for Doing Business. And he is the only public official this year to be inducted into the Fortune Small Business Hall of Fame.

However, the mayor is the first to say we can do more - and that more is business tax reform. We need to make it easier for businesses to locate and stay here, so that we can continue creating high-quality jobs and ensure a healthy Los Angeles economy for years to come.

Now that our office has been designated through charter reform as the chief lobbyist for the city of Los Angeles, we are reintroducing - with the help of Assemblyman Gil Cedillo of Los Angeles - AB 1992, an ordinance that mandates the State Franchise Tax Board provide tax information on taxpayers operating a business within a charter city to the taxing authority of that city.

For Los Angeles, that means we will be able to track businesses that are not currently paying local business taxes, and the financial benefits for the city could be as high as $60 million annually. If AB 1992 passes, we hope the lion's share goes to business tax relief.

The Mayor's Office is committed to making Los Angeles the No. 1 destination for business and the quality-job capital of the Pacific Rim. And we sincerely hope that the City Council will be our partner in this goal and work with us to reform the business tax system.

Our place as the future city depends on it.