Testimony Before the House Ways and Means Committee
Ohio Estate or "Death" Tax Repeal/Reduction
127th Ohio General Assembly
Proponent Testimony
Frank Ciotola
Self-Employed Financial Advisor
Mr. Chairman and members of the House Ways and Means Committee, my name is Frank Ciotola and I am part owner of a family owned real estate investment company and a member of the NFIB. Also note that I am a financial advisor and a member of the Upper Arlington City Council. Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony in support of a reduction/elimination of the Ohio estate or "death" tax. I also want to thank the sponsors and this committee for working on this important small-business issue.
When my parents emigrated from Italy in 1968, they sought to capture the American Dream and own their own small business. This dream was realized in the form of DaVinci Ristorante, started in 1974 as a very small family-run Italian restaurant. Over time, with lots of blood, sweat, tears, and a considerable amount of capital re-invested into the business, DaVinci grew into a substantial restaurant with about 70 employees. Since my parents started the business in 1974, my siblings and I continued to take on more managerial responsibilities as my parents began to slow down, including the handling of the business' finances.
As a necessary component of this transition our family engaged in succession planning. My parents had to purchase life insurance and hire an estate-planning attorney. The premium and attorney fees came to over $50,000.00
We have recently transitioned from operating a restaurant to operating a real estate investment company. The site of our one restaurant will now have over 12 businesses. One of my siblings has also carried the restaurant legacy to a smaller location and continues to employ 20 or so people. I am extremely proud of my parents and pleased to carry on their legacy as a small-business owner. But being a business owner brings a myriad of challenges every day and we struggle to keep up with the constant pressures of increasing insurance costs, regulatory requirements and tax burdens. Per my family's experience, and the experience of many small-business owners I have had the honor to work with, the death tax is yet another hurdle hindering the retention and growth of small business. As you might know, small businesses create nearly all new jobs and employ nearly one-half of all Ohioans. As a result, Ohio's economic recovery is directly tied to the success of small business. While I am not suggesting that changes to Ohio's estate tax will solve all of our problems, it sends a tremendously positive signal to entrepreneurs and family businesses like ours that Ohio policy-makers stand with us and are making strides to improve the business climate. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I join NFIB/Ohio in asking for your support of reducing/eliminating the burden placed on small employers via the death tax.
Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to testify before the House Ways and Means Committee and thank you for moving the debate forward on this important topic. Thank you again for this opportunity. I would be happy to answer questions at this time.
