Video Tech founder blames Washington's millionaire tax for state's exodus Jesse Proudman, founder and CTO of Venice.AI, warns that recent tax policy developments in the Evergreen State have affected companies moving out of the area.
A Washington manufacturer is leaving the state after nearly five decades, with its owner citing rising crime, taxes and a worsening political climate.
Jon Bodwell, whose family founded Delta Camshaft in 1977, said he has been forced to live inside his business because the cost of operating in Washington has become too high.
"A majority of it is the constant battle with the city over the graffiti and the crime stuff here, the constant massive tax increase, everything is increasing," Bodwell told Fox News Digital in an interview Tuesday.
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Delta Camshaft owner Jon Bodwell and facility manager Ken Quale. (Photo courtesy: Jon Bodwell)
"The cost of power, the cost of insurance, everything is increasing by large increments. It's not like one or two percent, it's like, my insurance went up 20%," he added. "My power bill is going up. The claim is supposed to be going up another 13%. But just last month, it almost doubled."
Delta Camshaft manufactures and repairs camshafts, which control how an engine takes in air and fuel and expels exhaust.
On its website, the company says that it "is not closing," but that "our plan is to relocate the business and continue to serve our customers for years to come."
"Because crime is running rampant, my insurance policy on the building is skyrocketed," Bodwell said. "You know, quite a substantial amount in the past three to five years. And then, officers that I do speak with about the graffiti stuff like that they'll say it takes longer for them to write the report than it does if they arrest the person," he said, adding that "the criminals basically have more protective rights than I do as the building owner."
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According to an FBI crime report for 2024, released in August, Seattle was ranked fourth-worst out of the 30 largest American cities for total crime.
Bodwell said his move out of Washington state might cost him upwards of $100,000, but that he believes he will be able to make up the money once he has moved his business.
"A few years ago, I should have sold it, sold the building when people were buying and moving into the downtown Tacoma," he told Fox News Digital. "And now there's just a ton of buildings for sale in the market because everyone's leaving."
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A homeless encampment known as The Treeline is located near downtown Seattle along Interstate 5 on the edge of the freeway and bordering redwood trees on July 22, 2022. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)
Bodwell and Delta Camshaft are far from the only ones planning to leave Washington.
A recent survey by the Association of Washington Business reported on by The Center Square found that 44% of business leaders said they are considering moving their personal residence out of state, with businesses also saying they are now more than twice as likely to expand outside of Washington than within it.
In March, Washington state Democrats passed the "millionaires tax," which Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson signed on March 30. It's the state's first-ever income tax, pushed by progressives and opposed by conservatives.
Andrea Suarez, executive director of We Heart Seattle, talks to a homeless man injecting methamphetamine in Seattle, Washington, on March 13, 2022. The city is addressing widespread drug addiction and homelessness in public spaces.
If he was younger, Bodwell said he would try to run for office to turn things around.
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"If I was in my younger years, if I was in my mid-20s or 30s, I would go into politics to stop what's occurring now," he said. "Unfortunately, I'm 56 with some very bad health issues that won't allow me to be around for a whole lot longer with my lungs and heart issues. But I definitely, I wish I could go back to get involved in politics to stop what's occurring."
Rachel del Guidice is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to rachel.delguidice@fox.com.
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