The L.A. City Council could vote on tax credits for businesses to stimulate job growth. (Creative Commons Licensed)

The L.A. City Council could vote Friday to draft an ordinance that would ease taxes on businesses that hire new employees from the area.

In the original motion from June, council president Eric Garcetti, along with councilman Greig Smith, proposed a job creation tax credit worth $1,000 to $5,000 per new L.A. resident hired. With a 13.2 percent unemployment rate, L.A. is among the most-affected cities from the recent recession.

Garcetti anticipates keeping the tax credits in place until the unemployment rate is "reduced to below pre-recession levels."

The council wrote to President Obama in late 2009 in an attempt to extend federal employee tax credits to municipalities with high unemployment rates, which would include L.A.

With no action from Washington, Garcetti forged ahead with his own plan to enact similar legislation on a local level. In his motion, Garcetti says this effort would help both existing businesses and new businesses alike, not to mention job growth.

Garcetti’s motion asks the city attorney, with the help of the chief legislative analyst, the city's office of finance and the Business Tax Advisory Committee, to prepare an ordinance that would approve the tax credit.

Last week, the Job and Business Development Committee sent a report to the council that recommended the approval of Garcetti’s motion.

To reach staff reporter Susan Shimotsu, click here.

Follow her on Twitter: @susanfromtx.

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