ARLINGTON — Small businesses in the county will see their taxes skyrocket up by 70% next year.

The Office of the Commissioner of Revenue has announced that the business license tax for 2013 will rise to $51 for businesses grossing between $10,001 and $50,000. Those businesses currently pay just $30 a year for a license.

The Republican candidate for the Arlington County Board was quick to express outrage at the increase, which is designed to adjust for inflation. The tax was last raised in 1992.

“Such unconscionable job-destroying actions as this are exactly why Arlington is only the fifth-richest county in America,” screamed Board hopeful Jenny McDonnagan Finch in an interview on FOX 5 News. “I drive through Fairfax County and I think to myself, that could be us. That could be Arlington.”

Asked whether she would repeal the tax hike if elected, Finch bellowed, “I pledge that on my first day in office I will institute a flat 0.5% licensing fee for businesses.”

Analysts at political watchdog Fact- Check.org have calculated that under the Finch plan, businesses at the lower end of the bracket would see essentially no tax benefit. Their report notes, “0.5% of $10,001 is basically $51.”

As for the $50,000 earners, they would see their taxes increase “a whopping 490.2%” over the 2013 rate, a figure pro-Democrat SuperPACs were quick to cite widely without sourcing.

Businesses themselves are indifferent either way. As one owner put it, “Whatever the fee, we’ll just mark it ‘miscellaneous’ and charge it to one of our government contracts.”