Do the work now, or wait?

Q. I really need to make repairs to my home but I’m concerned about the economy, and especially about taxes. I keep getting strange answers when I call the tax assessor’s office about adding a two-story addition while I’m making roof and siding repairs. (May as well do them together.) I know you can’t really tell me, but how do you see the building industry and the economy affecting whether I do this now or wait? Are contractors a little more hungry? Are taxes going to kill me? Should I wait?

A. In one form or another, yours is the most common question I get. How’s business? How much will my taxes rise? What do you see happening? I do know some future things from what is going on because my industry is ahead of the curve. When we plan something, many people are needed to carry the plan forward, so I get glimpses of the future economy and employment issues — from hiring more staff, to building officials, contractors, their subcontractors, material suppliers, manufacturers, ancillary industries (tire makers, home furnishings, utilities), the whole fabric of our working nation that gets to work when orders are placed. I also see many ways to improve that outlook, from product redesign to tax-savings methods to ways that will put more people to work by freeing up spending money.

So far, in this column, those tax ideas have fallen on deaf ears, so to speak. As I write this, hundreds of people are being laid off by Nassau County and hundreds more are having their pay grade levels lowered, being told that if they don’t like it, they, too, can leave. In short, now is the best time to build. Why? Because we all need to keep moving forward, helping ourselves and others, despite government.