Today I visited Shopzilla, an e-business that employs about 250 people in West LA, and signed into law the Internet Business Tax Relief Ordinance. This measure sends a message, loud and clear, that the City of Los Angeles is going to fight to keep every high-growth internet business and good-paying technical job in Los Angeles.
Shopzilla is an innovative internet business that helps shoppers in every corner of the globe compare prices online. Even though their client base is worldwide, so they could be located anywhere, Shopzilla and its hundreds of employees are working right here in Los Angeles and we intended to keep it that way.
You see, internet companies throughout Los Angeles were recently facing an increase of 500% in taxes. We knew we could not stand by and allow this vital, mobile industry to move out of town. That's why my office partnered with Councilmembers Garcetti, Rosendahl, and Smith to write legislation that guarantees the lowest tax rate for internet companies that use the internet as the primary source of service.
Right now, job creation is goal number one in every thing we do at City Hall, and we're going to keep making sure that good-paying jobs in high-growth sectors are go to talented, industrious Angelenos.
See here for information about the Internet Business Tax Relief.
Cross-posted at mayor.lacity.org