BUSINESS NEWS DIGEST | ‘Crash tax’ targets out-of-towners

‘Crash tax’ targets out-of-towners

LANSING, Mich.

Out-of-towners would be wise to drive carefully when passing through Fraser, a suburb about 15 miles northeast of Detroit.

The city this year began charging nonresidents who cause wrecks for the public safety and emergency response time involved in the accident. The fee is one of many revenue-raising ideas being considered by cities nationwide dealing with budget problems.

Reluctant to raise taxes on their own residents, local governments are looking increasingly at out-of-towners. But critics complain that the fees amount to taxation without representation, or double taxation, since those people already pay for roads and public safety services in their own communities. And unsuspecting out-of-town motorists who’ve have faced the bills say they send a hostile message.

“You’re not welcome here — outsiders not welcome,” said Jay Middleton, a Mount Laurel, N.J., resident who fought a “crash tax” charged in a Philadelphia suburb. “That’s what it says to me.”

Jennie-O recalls turkey burgers

WILLMAR, Minn.

Jennie-O Turkey Store in Willmar has recalled nearly 55,000 pounds of frozen, raw turkey burgers because the meat may have been contaminated with salmonella, federal officials said.

Jennie-O said the product was distributed nationwide but sold only at Sam’s Club Stores.

So far, 12 people in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Washington and Wisconsin have become ill over the last four months.

The recall includes 4-pound boxes of Jennie-O’s “All Natural Turkey Burgers with seasonings Lean White Meat.” Each box contains 12 individually wrapped burgers. The packages have a use-by date of Dec. 23, 2011, and identifying lot codes of “32710” through “32780.”

The products were packaged Nov. 23.

Jennie-O has created an online resource for consumers at http://www.jennieo.com/recall.

A jump in buybacks

NEW YORK

Companies are gobbling up their own shares this year. Should you join in the buying spree?

For stock investors, there is seemingly no better bullish sign. After all, the corporate executives behind the decision to buy presumably have a good idea whether their company will prosper. If they’re buying, the thinking goes, the shares must be going up. Except they often do not — and may not now.

“Companies have been pretty poor at timing purchases,” says Robert Leiphart of Birinyi Associates. Gregory Milano, the CEO of consultancy Fortuna Advisors, is more blunt: “We’re in the middle of a buyback bubble.”

Since the start of the year, U.S. companies have announced plans to buy back $150 billion of their own stock, a 38 percent jump from last year, according to Birinyi. Home Depot Inc. says it will buy $1 billion worth now, more than a quarter of what it generated in profits last year.

Associated Press