By Angela Hatton
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkms/local-wkms-893725.mp3
Murray, KY – Murray Calloway County Chamber of Commerce officials have released results of a payroll tax survey sent out to their members last week. The Murray City Council is considering a payroll tax to fill their budget gap. So far nearly 82 percent of chamber businesses are opposed to the tax. Chamber president Lance Allison says most of the business owners believe council members haven't fully considered the alternatives.
"We've seen this percentage of for and against payroll tax be about the same from the first ten comments to now 265. Uh, so it's staying around that 80 percent against and ten percent, uh for. And then we've got about seven or eight percent that are not offering a response at this time to that question."
The majority of the respondents have been small businesses and Allison says that may have contributed to the results. He says small businesses would see a bigger impact to their bottom line from the payroll tax than larger companies. The online survey remains active, and Allison says the Chamber has opened it up to parties outside its membership. Officials hope to present the results to the Murray city council for consideration.