Darkstone Code

Chapter 1045 - 1043: Incubation Base

There wasn’t much to handle regarding Darkstone Security, so after dealing with those matters, Lynch went to Bupen’s City Hall.

Many people would think that becoming the mayor of Bupen should be a very happy affair.

Because this is the political, cultural, and economic center of the country, where the best of everything the Federation has can be found, becoming the mayor of this city should be blissful—it’s not!

It’s precisely because Bupen is different that being mayor here is destined not to be so joyful.

It’s completely imaginable that there are people throughout the city that the mayor cannot afford to offend. Although he’s supposed to be the supreme ruler of a city, here he can only be considered middle management.

There are simply too many higher figures, like the President, the ministers and vice ministers of various ministries, and the legislators in Congress, not to mention countless big capitalists!

Any one of them could give him a headache, let alone so many people clustering together.

So often, people don’t know what the mayor of this city has said, or if... he has had any new ideas, new policies, and the like.

His presence in front of the people is minimal, so much so that some local people don’t even know who the mayor is, what he is called, or what he looks like.

Before coming to City Hall, Lynch didn’t know either, but now he knows because the city’s highest ruler is sitting right across from him.

"I heard from the social services bureau that you hope to purchase a large piece of land?"

The mayor of Bupen looks quite young, in his early forties, very spirited, and his attire makes him look very capable, not at all as downcast as one might imagine.

Lynch nodded slightly, "I plan to build an industrial incubator here..."

He briefly discussed the concept of this industrial incubator with the mayor, who was instantly attracted by Lynch’s idea and design.

"It’s a good plan, so some small and medium-sized start-up groups won’t have to worry about these things. You can provide some funding to address their initial startup capital difficulties, and also provide venues."

"It can be anticipated that once this industrial incubator develops, it will form a very interesting ecological chain!"

"Maybe we can tilt some policies in your favor."

Lynch nodded, "This is also one of my purposes for coming here, because we only engage in investment; according to the Federation’s relevant laws, our tax rate is not very high."

The mayor was taken aback, "Hold on a moment...", he needed someone to provide him some assistance.

Then he picked up the phone and, without avoiding Lynch, directly asked the questions he was concerned about.

About a minute later, he ended the call.

"I just inquired, and it is indeed so, which is troublesome.", the mayor fell into contemplation.

For entrepreneurs or for any capitalists, tax exemption is always the best "policy" because it’s money!

It’s equivalent to giving money to these capitalists, although the tax department might be a bit dissatisfied, but who cares!

It’s better than anything, as has always been the case when it’s been used in the past.

Unexpectedly, Lynch’s Future Light Investment Company turned out to be a non-substantial business.

It doesn’t specifically produce any goods, has no workers, but there will be employees working for it, and it will pay salaries and purchase insurance for employees.

Without actual market transaction behavior, it does not meet the preconditions for all taxation, and investment returns, in the view of Federation law, may not need to be taxed, or very little tax is required.

Laws vary from region to region and state to state with some differences, but even with variations, the gaps between these differences aren’t very big.

If the tax exemption amount is given to Lynch, Lynch might not have to pay taxes at all.

The public would be very sensitive to this matter; you should never "assume" that the public can understand the decisions of City Hall, nor underestimate their ability to make wild guesses.

Once Lynch’s Future Light Investment Company is tax-exempt, the public would definitely erupt, they would think it’s a scandal, but it actually is not.

The public wouldn’t care about these, they would just cause an uproar, and then lead to an investigation group for an investigation, and then even the investigation group would get criticized...

It’s laughable to say, the real estate magnates don’t pay taxes or pay less tax, on the contrary, those who really pay full taxes to develop and build this country, are those who aren’t so wealthy.

Their nerves are very sensitive, it’s best not to give them an excuse to cause trouble.

The mayor glanced at Lynch, who appeared very calm, knowing that they both understood what the other wanted, but neither revealed it first.

About half a minute later, the mayor sighed, "Let’s do this, you can pay a bit less in property tax, but not too much less."

"We can also cooperate on some other projects."

Property tax belongs to "local tax", and this part of the funds would remain directly in Bupen’s finances.

The Federation’s tax structure has three levels: local tax, state tax, and national tax.

These three types of taxes are just as their names imply: whoever’s tax it is, that party collects the money. Property tax for land comes from local lands, so this part almost stays local, as part of the funds for development and construction.

The mayor felt the only "benefit" he could offer Lynch is from this aspect; offering no benefit at all is impossible, after all, this kind of industrial incubator is indeed a fantastic project.

"Great decision, I am very satisfied. We can talk about some subsequent issues now."

The mayor had his secretary bring over a planning map, turning the entire Bupen into a flat surface, with used land colored and unused land in blue.

There were many colored blocks on the map, and Lynch’s target was outside the city.

He didn’t plan to buy large plots of land on the city line of Bupen, waiting for appreciation, because due to the previous financial crisis, coupled with the warming Federation market, a large amount of funds flowed into the real industry.

With the rapid development of the real industry, real estate development would shrink—the reason is simple, when the real industry is in a period of rapid development, the flow of funds moves to the real industries with higher returns, reducing the funds flowing into real estate development.

Moreover, the lower end of society has not fully recovered; they have relatively low purchasing power for real estate. As real estate is on the verge of saturation, no new projects would be initiated.

Capital is always profit-seeking, and it is the "seeking" that needs to be emphasized here. It will chase the trend, not pre-invest at the next possible opportunity spot.

That kind of pre-investment is not investment, but a form of gambling!

Some people also like speculation, and the returns from successful speculation can be astonishing, but not every time can you guess right.

A correct guess yields astonishing returns, but a wrong one means astonishing losses too!

So overall, if the Bupen city circle wants to expand, it seems there is almost no hope of this happening in ten or twenty years.

Lynch thought another wave of war would probably break out within the next ten years, and by that time, the flow of capital and people would make the city’s expansion even more impossible, so betting on this is meaningless.

It’s better to buy large parcels of land where the prices are cheaper, rather than around the city circle where land prices are artificially high, which is not cost-effective.

After Lynch drew up a large piece of land, Bupen’s mayor smiled so broadly his mouth could hardly close.

Building an industrial incubator, no matter how it’s done, would at least require building some structures, which means jobs.

This could solve gaps for hundreds or more positions, and people would be more satisfied with the city’s development during his tenure, thus giving him a better chance to aim for higher positions.

Such as Member of Parliament or Governor.

Federation politicians are often quite pathetic, as they either revolve around capitalists or bounce around with public opinion.

"It’s a bit far from the city circle here. I hope City Hall can plan a new bus route to connect it with the city," Lynch brought up his second small request.

The mayor agreed after a brief hesitation, "Alright, I’ll contact the public transport company about this."

"Water, electricity..."

The mayor suddenly felt a bit of a headache and jokingly said, "You wouldn’t consider these as policies too, would you?"

Lynch smilingly retorted, "Why not?"

The City Hall wished to say it certainly wasn’t, knowing that both the Federation’s power company and water company are damn private companies. In other words, costs would be incurred to lay water and electricity over.

Even if requested by City Hall, City Hall would have to pay to make them do so.

This is also not an insignificant cost, ensuring the water and electricity supply for something akin to a small urban area, possibly an industrial area, is very difficult!

The mayor pondered for a while, "I am quite familiar with people from the power and water companies; I could give you a discounted price..."

"But you need to handle the grid issue yourself!"

The grid!

The marvelous Federation!

Lynch paused to react, "I’ll deal with this part myself!"

In the Federation, the entity generating and selling power could be one, or it could be two independent yet cooperative companies; then, the power needs to pass through the grid to reach users.

The grid is yet another company, charging both ways.

Sometimes, due to the timing of construction, power needs to come from the Federation’s power plants, through the power company, then through two or three or more grid companies before reaching the user’s home.

Lynch’s incubation base is outside the city, where there is no grid; Lynch must either build it himself or hire another grid company to do it.

Besides these, there is another issue; if he builds it himself, the grid company can refuse his connection directly to their grid.

This way, Lynch would have to separately construct some power lines direct to the power plant or power company’s doorsteps to enable electricity in the incubator.

Overall, quite a hassle!