On February 9, Gov. Ed Rendell gave his eighth and final budget address to a joint session of the state House and Senate. The budget in its entirety, as well as the transcript of the governor’s budget address and other documents, can be found on the administration’s Office of the Budget website.

The governor proposes state spending in FY 2010-11 increase to $29.03 billion. (An increase of $1.15 billion, or 4.1 percent, over the current 2009-10 budget.)

Chief among the governor’s budget proposal is the creation of a Stimulus Transition Reserve Fund. This is a holding fund in which the state would deposit certain “new” revenues. These “new” revenues will be generated by proposed changes to the Tax Code. Some of these changes are listed below. NOTE: Look at how these changes have a DIRECT impact on you, your business, your clients, and your customers:

• Eliminating 71 exemptions to the Sales and Use Tax, including a sales tax on professional/accounting services, while reducing the overall sales tax from 6 percent to 4 percent. Below is the list of 71 exemptions he proposes eliminating. Eliminating exemptions means assessing sales tax on 71 products/services that currently are exempt from state sales tax
• Eliminating the Vendor Sales Tax Discount for businesses remitting timely tax payments.
• Implementing a severance tax on Marcellus Shale natural gas (5 percent of the gas value at the wellhead, plus 4.7 cents per 1,000 cubic feet extracted)
• Including other tobacco products among taxable items for sales tax purposes.
• Reducing the Corporate Net Income (CNI) tax from 9.99 percent to 8.99 percent.
• Continuing the phase-out of the Capital Stock and Franchise Tax (CSFT)

Again, I emphasize, this is a PROPOSAL. However, the impact of this legislation is so sweeping you need to know about this now. If you are so inclined, tell your local representative(s) what you think and how this may impact you and your business.

Chuck Ozeck
cjo@ozeck.com
Charles J. Ozeck, CPA
601 West Callowhill Street
Perkasie, PA 18944
Phone 215-453-8319

Below is a list provided by the Governor’s Budget Office of the 74 sales tax exemptions to be repealed by Gov. Rendell’s proposed 2010-11 budget.

Accounting, auditing and bookkeeping services; Attorney services
Administrative services
Advertising, public relations & related services
Air transportation
Airline Catering
All other professional and technical services
Amusement & recreation industries
Architectural, engineering, & related services

Bad Debts
Basic television

Call Center Credit
Candy and Gum
Caskets and Burial Vaults
Catalogs and Direct Mail Advertising
Charges for Returnable Containers
Coal
Coin Operated Food and Beverage Vending Machines
Commercial Vessels (Construction & Repair)
Commercial Vessels (Equipment, Maintenance)
Common Carriers
Construction of Memorials
Consulting (scientific, environmental, & technical)
Custom programming, design & data processing

Dry-cleaning & laundry services

Electric – Residential
Electrical, plumbing, heating & AC service fees

Financial Institutions Fees
Firewood
Fish Feed
Flags
Fuel Oil/Gas – Residential
Funeral parlors, crematories & death care services

Gratuities

Helicopters
Horses Sold To Out of State Purchasers
Hotel-Permanent Resident

Information services
Investment Metal Bullion & Investment Coins

Legal
Liquor or Malt Beverage Purchased From Retail Dispenser

Magazines
Mfg. Exemption (Public Utility)
Motor Vehicles (Out-of-State Purchases)
Museums, historical sites, zoos, & parks For-Profit

Newspapers
Non-Prescription Drugs

Other transportation
Other: personal services

Parking lots & garages
Personal care services
Personal Hygiene Products

Rail Transportation Equipment
Recreational parks, camps & campgrounds
Rental of Films for Commercial Exhibition

School Buses
Scientific research & development services
Services to Buildings and Dwellings
Specialized design
Spectator sports admissions (excludes schools)
Stair Lift Devices

Telephone – Residential
Temporary Usage
Textbooks
Theater, dance, music & performing arts admissions For-Profit
Tourist Promotion Agencies
Transit & ground transportation
Trout
Truck transportation

Uniform Commercial Code Filing Fees

Veterinary fees

Warehouse Storage
Waste management and remediation services
Water and Sewage Services
Wrapping and Packing Supplies

Send details of events you would like listed to: perkasieoldetowne@gmail.com

Officers for 2010:
President: Joe Ferry (Shadywood Communications Group)
Vice President: Jill Strickland (Frox)
Secretary: Kim Weichel (First Savings)
Treasurer: Karen Krier (QNB)

Committee Assignments
Membership: Hope Fisher
Events: Cathy Weierbach
Marketing: Joe Ferry

The 2010 Perkasie Olde Towne Association Board of Directors: (front row, left to right) Kim Rau, Jill Strickland, Cindy Smith, Cathy Weierbach and Karen Krier; (back row, left to rght) Hope Fisher, Kim Weichel, Joe Ferry, Mike Engard.

I hope to meet other business owners soon. Stop by and see us or check out our website www.mccloskeypartners.com.

Heather McCloskey
McCloskey Partners, LLC
215-453-1978
heather@mccloskeypartners.com

“We’ve been working for nearly a year to put together an event to remember,” said POTA President Hope Fisher. “Everything has come together nicely and we’re looking forward to a great night.”

Here’s the schedule of events; everything takes place in downtown Perkasie, Bucks County, Pennsylvania (7th and Market streets) unless otherwise noted.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4

5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. — Model Train Display at Perkasie Electric Building (120 N. 7th Street)

SATURDAY, December 5

Noon – 5 p.m. – FREE Rides on the Perkasie Carousel (Menlo Park)

5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. – FREE Horse and Carriage Rides (sponsored by Grim Biehn & Thatcher/Laurel Abstract)

5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. – “Passport to the Kingdom of Sweets” (co-sponsored by En Arabesque and Contemporary Gardens)

5:30 p.m. – Pennridge High School Brass Ensemble (sponsored by First Savings Bank)

5:45 p.m. – “Winter Dances” performed by the Shannon Carney Dance Academy

6 p.m. – Fireworks Display

6:15 p.m. – Perkasie First Baptist Church Children’s Bell Choir

6:30 p.m. – “The Night Before Christmas” recitation by Perkasie Mayor John Hollenbach (on the steps of Perkasie Borough Hall, 7th and Chestnut streets)

6:30 p.m. – Pennridge High School Choral Ensemble (sponsored by Touching Hearts)

6:45 p.m. – Scene from “The Nutcracker” performed by Barnes School of Dance

6:50 p.m. – “Light the Tree with Santa” drawing

6:55 p.m. – Sellersville Elementary School Choir performs “Here Comes Santa Claus”

7 p.m. – Santa arrives to light the tree

7:15 p.m. – Perkasie First Baptist Adult Choral Ensemble Christmas Carol Sing-Along and Photos with Santa at RE/MAX440

“Christmas is about kids,” said Hope Fisher, president of the Perkasie Olde Towne Association, which has put together a host of events to celebrate this year’s 100th anniversary of America’s oldest community Christmas tree lighting. “We thought it made sense to focus much of our effort on their enjoyment of this special evening.”

From 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., youngsters will use their “Passport to the Kingdom of Sweets” to take a magical trip to downtown businesses, where they will meet characters from “The Nutcracker” and receive special treats. Approximately 10 businesses have agreed to participate in the event, which is sponsored by En Arabesque and Contemporary Gardens.

Youngsters will pick up their personalized passports at the Perkasie Olde Towne Association tent and then be on their own to visit the stops listed on their passport.

“This should be a lot of fun,” said Fisher. “It will be a real adventure as the kids anticipate who they’ll see and what they’ll receive at each business.”

Youngsters who donate a canned good or other non-perishable food item to Pennridge FISH will be entered in a drawing to help throw the switch that lights this year’s tree, according to Fisher.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Fisher. “Whoever gets to be up there on the podium will remember it for a long time.”

The 100th Anniversary Community Christmas Tree Lighting will feature several other events:

For more information about 100th anniversary of America’s oldest community Christmas Tree lighting ceremony, visit www.perkasieoldetowne.org or call 215-257-4989.

Grand opening for the Bucks County Candle & Gift Co.

Jan Radosin has opened the Bucks County Candle & Gift Co. at 101 N. Fifth Street in Perkasie. Several POTA members gathered for Grand Opening on November 7.

Radosin, a Quakertown resident, makes her own candles under the Chandler House Ltd. brand name. She also sells candle-themed jewelry, table runners, place mats, baskets, and soaps, most of which are handmade by artisans in the area. Radosin also produces custom candles for party favors and private labels candles that can be used as fundraisers.

“There’s no limit to what I’ll attempt to do for the customer.” she says.

The store is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information call Jan at 215-583-6811 or send email to buckscountycandleandgift@verizon.net.

Two local businesses recently received Facade Improvement Grants from Perkasie Olde Towne Association.
Charles Croce, owner of Bravo’s Pizza, received $550 to seal the blacktop and paint new lines in his parking lot at Third and Walnut Streets. Michael McDevitt of Olde Towne Convenience received $1,233 to install new awnings and paint the front of his store at 517 W. Walnut Street.

“We are pleased to help these two businesses,” said Michael Engard, chairman of the POTA Façade Improvement Grant Program. “If you are thinking about making changes to your façade, the availability of this grant could help make up your mind.”

Borough businesses are eligible for matching grants up to $1,500 through the Façade Improvement Grant Program. The money, which does not have to be repaid, can be used for 50 percent of the cost to renovate, remodel or revive facades and storefronts. Eligible projects include awnings, landscaping, lighting and painting. Signs are not included.

The Application and Design Guidelines can be found on the Perkasie Olde Towne Association web site: http://www.perkasieoldetowne.org

For more information, call Engard at 215-257-1202.

Charles Croce, owner of Bravo's Pizza, with Mike Engard, chair of POTA's Design Grant program.

(This information is from the Duct Tape Marketing Blog.)

The Google Local Business Center is a must visit for business in general, but certainly for businesses attempting to attract customer in their local community. As you may know, Google allows you to add your business to a directory and then enhance your profile with all kinds of information about your business, products, and services. This is a free listing and every small business should take advantage of it.

Google shows these listings when someone makes what is obviously a geographic based search such as – Toledo plumber. The results show in what is called the Google 10 box above other listings. When someone clicks on one of these results they are taken to the profile through Google Maps.

Recently Google has added and integrated a couple of useful tools.

1) Now your Local Business Center account shows you analytics. You can see how many people are clicking on your profile, what search terms got them there and, for folks looking to find your business locally, where they came from based on their requests for driving directions. This is some pretty cool data, particularly for retail locations. It could help inform where you might spend some direct mail focus, for instance, and how you might optimize some of your web pages.

2) AdWords now allows you to connect your Google Local Profile to your AdWords account and, by doing so, you can ask Google to show your address, based on the location of the ad visitor, when someone views your ad. Google has dubbed this add-on Local Extensions. Once extensions are set up, Google will dynamically match your business locations to a user’s location or search terms and show the address with your text ads.

This could be useful for a business with multiple locations. Now, instead of having to set up multiple local ads you simply assign extensions to all your ads and Google will show the address of the best location based on where the user is located. Here’s the help page for more info on setting up.