At Amazon Reptile Center Inc., owner Scott Solar is paying for the pink slips he issued.
After several years of growth, the company, which has two reptile pet stores in Montclair and Covina, Calif., ran headfirst into the recession. As employees left, they weren’t replaced, but recently the company decided to let go of three workers. In three years, the staff shrunk to five from 12. Now, like many owners, Mr. Solar will be paying a higher state unemployment insurance tax as a direct result of those layoffs.
State unemployment insurance taxes are paid throughout the year, as owners pay their other payroll taxes. States typically have a base unemployment tax, which owners will pay according to the size of their payroll. But as a company lays off employees, it develops a negative history or so-called “experience rating” that can boost that tax.
“We didn’t know there were repercussions, but we had to do it,” says Mr. Solar of his thin staff. “But now we’re going to be punished for keeping the business alive.”
Adding to the burden, a number of states are running out of funds to pay for their out-of-work populations. With jobless claims swelling and coffers depleting, at least 35 states are hiking unemployment tax rates this year, according to a survey by the National Association of State Workforce Agencies conducted late last year. 
(Read more from online.wsj.com)