That's one of the observations in the latest version of the annual Kosmont Cos. survey on the cost of doing business in cities nationwide, jointly published by locally based Kosmont and the Rose Institute of State and Local Government at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont.

The study, released today, reports on taxes, fees, and incentives that impact businesses in 314 cities and communities throughout the 50 states, as well as Washington, DC. It ranks each city in one of four categories: very low cost, medium cost, high cost or very high cost. The wide open spaces of Cheyenne, WY, rank as lowest cost in this year's survey, with Philadelphia ranking as the most expensive. No city in Los Angeles County is ranked as very low cost, and only four cities in the state qualify for that category: Roseville, Sutter Creek, and the unincorporated areas of Lake County and Merced County. On the other hand, California has plenty of very high cost cities, including a number in Los Angeles County.

Larry Kosmont, president and CEO of Kosmont, says the disparity in costs from city to city is growing in importance as many businesses now split up their operations rather than centralize in one spot. Hence the choice of one of the glamorous cities like Beverly Hills or Santa Monica for corporate offices by firms that often place back office and manufacturing functions elsewhere, Kosmont says. Modern communications enable companies to separate their real estate in this manner, Kosmont points out.

Kosmont's annual survey is designed for business leaders, real estate professionals and city officials who want to compare the costs and benefits of different locales. Cities use it to evaluate their attractiveness versus other cities, corporations employ it to narrow their options, and developers use it to determine the most profitable places for building.

Steven Frates, senior fellow at the Rose Institute, notes that this year's report highlights "the wide and expanding number and severity of costs imposed on businesses by government entities throughout the United States." Such information can help a company avoid costly mistakes when considering expansion or relocation, he says. A ranking of high cost or low cost in the study does not necessarily mean that a city is high or low cost in all respects. A city with no business or utility taxes could rank as a high cost place of doing business if it levies exceptionally high property taxes or state income taxes, for example, or a city with high business taxes might earn a low cost rating if utility taxes are low or absent and property taxes are low.