Survey Finds Louisianans Strongly Support Marketplace Fairness
As a follow-up to my previous posts about the Marketplace Fairness Act, I wanted to share the results of a recent Louisiana-specific poll. Results released by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) indicate an overwhelming majority of Louisianans (78 percent!) support federal legislation that requires online-only sellers to collect sales tax at the time of purchase. A national poll revealed similar results with the support of 70 percent of Americans.
Here’s a summary of the poll’s other key findings:
- 89 percent of Louisianans think it would be easier to collect sales tax from online-only vendors at the time of purchase, versus paying sales and use taxes through special forms or when filing income taxes as is currently required in many states (82 percent in national poll)
- 89 percent of Louisianans say local retailers are important to their community’s economic health (93 percent in national poll)
Louisianans and the Nation agree that it is time to pass Marketplace Fairness, which, after being combined with the Internet Tax Freedom Act, is the legislation now known as the Marketplace and Internet Tax Fairness Act (MITFA), S. 2609. As I have previously stated, it is important to level the playing field for our retailers who are employing people and paying taxes in our communities. The passage of this bill is critical to the Commercial Real Estate industry, brick-and-mortar retailers and perhaps more importantly, to our state and local governments.
I strongly encourage each of you to contact your representative and to promote this issue on social media sites with the hashtags #efairness, #MITFA, or #efairnessnow.
LSU Students attend ICSC RECon on Scholarship
Pictured (L-R): Justin Landry, Braden Eddy, John Woodard, Jimmy Maurin, Jeremy Lapeyrouse, Brian Brumfield, Kaylan Kuehler and Garrett Mickal
Jimmy Maurin and Roger Ogden, founders of Stirling Properties, have both always believed strongly in mentoring students interested in pursuing careers in real estate. This year, Jimmy and Roger started the 2014 Maurin Ogden LSU Real Estate Award, putting funds in a foundation with the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) that will be used exclusively to better the real estate program at Louisiana State University (LSU).
Six LSU students – Braden Eddy, John Woodard, Jeremy Lapeyrouse, Brian Brumfield, Kaylan Kuehler and Garrett Mickal – were selected as the award’s inaugural recipients. The award covered their airfare, hotel and convention costs to attend the 2014 ICSC RECon in Las Vegas. At the convention, the students had numerous meetings with industry leaders, participated in business meetings at Stirling Properties’ booth, and networked with potential employers.
Justin Landry, Stirling’s Asset/Finance Manager, chaperoned the students on the trip. Justin teaches Finance 3900 (Commercial Real Estate Valuation) at LSU and all six of the students have taken his course.
Stirling Properties was happy to host the students in our booth and we wish them the best in their future endeavors.
Stirling Properties’ Donna Taylor Earns ICSC Designation
Stirling Properties is pleased to announce that Donna Taylor, Senior Vice President of Asset Management & New Business, has earned the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Certified Retail Property Executive (CRX) designation.
ICSC estimates that less than 10% of industry professionals have achieved this important status, setting Ms. Taylor, as well as Stirling Properties, apart from the rest. Donna joins other members of Stirling’s leadership team, Lewis Stirling, Townsend Underhill and Chris Abadie, who have obtained the CRX designation.
With over 6,000 designees in 55 countries, 800 of whom hold CRX designations, ICSC certification programs are a mark of excellence. Certifications focus on raising industry professional standards worldwide and give special recognition to shopping center professionals who demonstrate the highest levels of competency in their industry through professional education, experience, ethics, and by passing a rigorous examination.
Stirling Properties’ Ryan Juneau Earns ICSC Designation
Stirling Properties is pleased to announce that Ryan Juneau, Project Manager, is now an International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Certified professional. Mr. Juneau is now an ICSC Certified Development, Design and Construction Professional (CDP).
ICSC estimates that less than 10% of industry professionals have achieved this important status, setting Mr. Juneau, as well as Stirling Properties, apart from the rest.
With over 6,000 designees in 55 countries, and nearly 500 of who are CDPs, ICSC certification programs are a mark of excellence. Certifications focus on raising industry professional standards worldwide and give special recognition to shopping center professionals who demonstrate the highest levels of competency in their industry through professional education, experience, ethics, and by passing a rigorous examination.
National Poll Shows Overwhelming Support for Online Sales Tax Collection at Time of Purchase
As a follow-up to one of my previous President’s Messages about the Marketplace Fairness Act, I wanted to comment about a recently conducted national poll by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).
The results of the poll show that the majority of American consumers (64%) are aware that they are required to pay state sales or use tax on online purchases, if not collected by the online seller, when they file their state income tax. However, other research indicates that over 98% don’t report such purchases. The poll also shows that 78% of voters feel it would be easier to pay state sales or use tax on online purchases at the time-of-purchase, rather than through special forms or when they file their state income taxes.
This poll is proof that the public is aware that this is NOT A NEW TAX, but rather one that isn’t being paid because it slips through the loopholes in the law. The current loophole is draining our state and local governments of desperately needed revenues for education, health care, police, firefighters and teacher pay, etc. Estimates of lost sales taxes in Louisiana alone due to internet sales range up to $800 million.
There is now overwhelming support for the collection of online sales tax at the time of purchase. We need to close this loophole NOW before it doubles in size.
You can read more about the poll results in this ICSC Press Release.
Louisiana Rising in the National Rankings
As the International Council of Shopping Center’s (ICSC’s) State Director for Louisiana, I recently contributed an article for the July 2013 edition of our Quarterly Membership Newsletter that I’d like to share:
As the returning ICSC State Director, I am extremely excited about the progress that we are making in the State of Louisiana on a number of fronts. Most importantly for our retail industry the economic and business growth trends continue to show a phenomenal trend for the region. Over the last 5 years, Louisiana has risen significantly across numerous national rankings – and the accolades keep coming! It’s hard to keep up with all the good news, which is a great problem to have. Highlighted below for quick reference are some of the rankings earned by the State of Louisiana over just the last quarter – very impressive for a state that was traditionally on the bottom of every list.
Louisiana Rankings – 2nd Quarter 2013:
- Top 10 Most Entrepreneurial States
CNN Money, June 2013
- #1 State with the Most Engaged Employees (most involved & enthusiastic)
Gallup, June 2013
- 2nd in the U.S. for construction job growth from May 2012 to May 2013
Associated General Contractors of America, June 2013
- 11th among “Best/Worst States for Business” based on CEO survey (most improved in the U.S. over the past 4 years, up 33 spots since 2009)
Chief Executives, May 2013
- Top 5 State in the U.S. for worldwide exporting in 1st Quarter 2013
World Trade Center of New Orleans, May 2013
- #2 Best States for Retirement
Bankrate.com, May 2013
- #7 among “Top Ten Competitive States of 2012”
Site Selection, May 2013
- 2nd Least Stressed State in 2012
Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, April 2013
- 1 of 6 states experiencing the largest increases in entrepreneurial activity rates over the past decade; 9th for 2010 to 2012 Entrepreneurial Activity with a rate of 400 per 100,000 residents (U.S. 300 per 100,000)
Kauffman Index, April 2013
- 2nd fastest revenue growth (up 170%) and 4th fastest growth in number (up 84%) of women-owned firms from 1997 to 2013
The State of Women-Owned Businesses, March 2013
- 12th in the U.S. for per-capita economic development project wins
Site Selection’s 2012 Governor’s Cup, March 2013
- Record-breaking $63.2 billion in merchandise exports in 2012, growing 15% over 2011
International Trade Administration, March 2013
- 3rd Best State for Banking
MoneyRates.com, March 2013
Louisiana’s cities and metro areas are also commanding positive national attention. Summarized below are some of the rankings earned over just the last quarter in these areas.
Notable Metro/City Rankings – 2nd Quarter 2013:
- Lafayette #1 overall among 100 Leading Locations in the U.S. for economic & job growth; #1 for Economic Strength, Year-Over-Year Growth & “Recession-Busting” factors among Top 25 Mid-Size Cities
Area Development’s Leading Locations for 2013, Summer 2013
- New Orleans and Shreveport among Top 20 Fastest Growing Cities in U.S.
NerdWallet.com, June 2013
- New Orleans is America’s Fastest Growing City
Forbes, June 2013
- New Orleans #3 among “Big Cities Winning the Battle for Information Jobs”
Forbes, May 2013
- Benteler Steel/Tube in Shreveport among “Top North American Deals of 2012” – 2nd largest investment in the U.S. during 2012
Site Selection, May 2013
- New Orleans #2 “Boomtown” in America, based on population and GDP growth
Bloomberg, April 2013
- Baton Rouge and Alexandria among “25 Best Places to Retire” out of 400 total U.S. cities
Forbes, March 2013
- New Orleans & Baton Rouge among Top 30 Best Cities for Young Entrepreneurs 2013
Under30CEO, March 2013
Louisiana has fared relatively well during the Great Recession and the national rankings show it. National and trade publications are taking notice and businesses are too. Louisiana is well positioned for a great future.
