Mayor calls for tax reform

oping to sharpen the city's competitive edge, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called Tuesday for giving a three-year tax break to all companies opening or relocating to Los Angeles and phasing out business taxes for existing firms. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.

Speaking during the annual United Chambers of Commerce Mayor's Luncheon, Villaraigosa said he would ask the City Council to make permanent the business-tax "holiday" set to expire in 2012. It gives businesses a reprieve from paying taxes on gross receipts during their first three years in Los Angeles.

"There should be no expiration date on this common-sense, job-creating policy," the mayor told a crowd of about 400 business owners and civic leaders gathered at the Warner Center Marriott.