When Factory Service Agency, opened in 1975, we saw great potential for growth and we were well positioned to serve our Metairie suburb and the New Orleans, Louisiana community. Since then, we have installed and maintained countless pieces of heating, ventilating and air conditioning equipment for customers both large and small.
We survived the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and then struggled through the tough times of the recession in 2008. Through all these years, I have worked hard to position my company as a strong business that provides good jobs and serves my community. But now, I am becoming increasingly concerned, that we have made it through those setbacks, only to be adversely impacted by a new tax, known as the health insurance tax or HIT, which is included in the president’s health care reform legislation (the P.P.A.C.A.).
To ensure that I attract the best employees, I pay 100 percent of their health care premiums. But rising costs are making this more difficult. My annual premiums have already increased an average of between six and 22 percent over the past few years, and beginning next year, this health insurance tax will add another $500 per employee to those annual premiums.
Areas like New Orleans depend on small businesses to support good-paying local jobs, but with the increased burden of the HIT, I will probably be forced to reduce other employee benefits and reconsider hiring additional personnel.
Two of every three jobs in America come from small businesses. This trend needs to continue for the U.S. economy to prosper, but small businesses are looking to Washington to enact policies that facilitate growth, not stymie it. All Members of Congress need to understand the adverse impact of the HIT before it becomes a real problem for small businesses like mine next year.
Mike Mitternight
Owner
Factory Service Agency
Metairie, Louisiana