Brisbane Company Will Move Even If Tax Law Passes

BRISBANE (KCBS) - State legislation has been introduced to prevent a Brisbane company from getting big tax breaks for moving to the Central Valley. VWR International, a medical laboratory supplier, has been based on the Peninsula for 50 years and has plans to relocate to Visalia in the Central Valley.

State Assemblyman Jerry Hill explained that Visalia is one of the state's 53 enterprise tax zones and that the move would see the loss of 150 jobs in the city of Brisbane.

KCBS' Anna Duckworth Reports:

"By state law, relocating would allow VWR to withhold a huge chunk of sales tax and earn a $37,000 credit for each local worker hired. Tax payer dollars will subsidize moving jobs from Northern California to Southern California," said Hill.

VWR is now owned by a Chicago company. Spokeswoman Valerie Colado said the decision to move was based on meeting customer demands.

"We've been out of capacity for quite some time at our Brisbane location," said Colado.

Assemblyman Hill's proposed legislation would close what he calls a loophole in the law, so companies firing employees in one California city can't get credit for hiring them in another.

Colado added that VWR's decision was difficult because of its impact on workers.

"We made it a priority to give our employees as much notice as possible, which was about two years," said Colado, who added that a change in the state's tax law won't impact their decision to relocate.

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