Workers compensation and disability tack on $500 more per year.

Just to break even, Basteri estimates that her company, massAV, will have to increase sales by $95,200. That's no cakewalk in a stagnant economy.

"People look at businesses and say they don't do enough for the employees, but we're taxed more than we should be to create the jobs we need to create," said Basteri. "I know there are people who want to repeal some of the taxes, but unfortunately, with the economic climate we're in, we seem to be going in a different direction."

As Massachusetts residents anxiously look for signs that the economy is improving, candidates seeking state office this year are touting their plans to create jobs and stimulate business. But after nearly two years of layoffs and cutbacks, what does it really cost to create a job in Massachusetts?

The answer, according to Bay State business owners, is often more than they can afford. These entrepreneurs say they want to hire people, but are often hampered by the high costs of benefits and taxes.

A new survey by the Massachusetts High Technology Council found that chief executives of companies doing business in the Bay State believe tax policy is the most important factor in determining the competitiveness of the state's business climate. They say business is suffering because of poor tax-policy decisions in recent years.

The council, a nonprofit business trade group based in Waltham, also found that 40 percent of respondents believe the business climate is worsening. That's the most negative outlook since 1991, the survey found.

Yet, entrepreneurs say the upside to doing business in Massachusetts is the state's educated work force.
Cristi Cristich, owner of Cristek Interconnects Inc., chose to open a 5,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in an old mill building on Lawrence Street in Lowell this year. The skills of Massachusetts workers will help make her business profitable, she said.

"We chose Massachusetts because we know there are great workers here," said Cristek, whose Anaheim, Calif., company develops and manufactures electronic connectors. "We do not like to hire people unless we know that we are going to sustain the job."

The three candidates running for governor this year -- incumbent Democrat Deval Patrick, Republican Charlie Baker and independent Tim Cahill -- have each made job creation a focus of their campaigns.

Baker says he wants to adopt a 5-percent business, income and sales tax, phase out ancillary taxes and reduce filing fees.

Cahill wants to cut the sales and income taxes to 5 percent and lower the business tax. He also supports waiving the income tax for new businesses for the first three years.

Incumbent Patrick is touting his administration's investments in clean energy and life sciences. He is also pointing out that Massachusetts employers added jobs for the seventh consecutive month in August as the state economy continued a recovery that is outpacing the nation.

Karen Bell, who owns The Club, a gym and health spa in downtown Lowell, is skeptical when it comes to the government's role in job creation.

"The government cannot create a job," Bell said. "The only way government can create a job is to get off the backs of the private citizens and the entrepreneurs who actually go through the process of creating jobs."

For every $10-per-hour employee who earns $21,000 annually at The Club, Bell said she must pay an additional $12,000 in benefits and taxes. To justify that expense, she said she would need to bring in an additional $220,000 in revenue, which equates to signing up 550 new members.

"It's a challenge in this economy, especially because my overhead is so high," Bell said. "My taxes, my electric bill, my sewer bill, my gas bill, on and on."

The cost of doing business in Massachusetts is high compared to the rest of the country, according to Bill Vernon, the state director of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, an advocacy group for small business owners.

Vernon said Massachusetts is the only state where business owners pay health-insurance benefits for unemployed workers and their families. This costs $33.60 annually per worker for any company that employs more than five full-time people, he said.

Vernon also pointed out that business owners that employ more than 11 full-time workers are required to pay a $295 penalty per employee if they do not offer them health insurance. The cost to provide unemployment insurance in Massachusetts is also the third-highest in the nation, about $650 annually per employee.

"If every fifth or 10th company says 'I'm not going to hire that mother for school hours,' then it has a negative impact on the state, and it's reflected in the cost of doing business," said Vernon. "That's just dollars and cents."

But in some cases, creating a new job comes down to more than that.

"I know what it takes to create one job here, and it's not just dollars and cents when you make those decisions," said Basteri. "You have instincts. You have a sense of what your business can do. You have an idea in the pipeline, and you hope that all of it, coming together, that the decision will be right."