PACOIMA : Enterprise Zone Expansion Sought
The Los Angeles City Council voted 13 to 0 Friday to ask for a 218-acre expansion of the Pacoima enterprise zone, where state tax breaks are available to business investors.
The expansion proposal, which would increase the existing 4,300-acre zone by about 5%, now must be approved by state Department of Commerce officials to take effect.
The request for state approval was adopted without debate.
In state enterprise zones, businesses can earn tax credits if they hire from the local unemployed or make capital investments in the area. The Pacoima zone has been in effect since the late 1980s.
A key goal of the proposed expansion, according to Councilman Ernani Bernardi’s office, is to include the large, long-vacant Gemco property on Van Nuys Boulevard in the enterprise zone.
It is hoped the zone’s tax benefits will prove useful in revitalizing this site, Bernardi’s office has said.
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