Posted on 05/14/2018 5:26:38 PM PDT by jeannineinsd
The council approved a tax of $275 per employee, per year on for-profit companies that gross at least $20 million per year in the city — down from a $500-per-head tax Mayor Jenny Durkan had threatened to veto.
The Seattle City Council voted unanimously Monday to adopt a new tax on the city’s largest employers to help address homelessness.
The ordinance will impose a tax of $275 per employee, per year on for-profit companies that gross at least $20 million per year in the city — down from a $500-per-head tax that Mayor Jenny Durkan threatened to veto.
-snip-
The tax approved Monday is much smaller than a $500-per-head proposal that had been under consideration for many weeks. Councilmember Kshama Sawant cast the only “no” vote Monday on an amendment that reduced the size of the tax.
“There is no way this tax will be a burden on big businesses in Seattle,” Sawant said, slamming the mayor for siding with “Amazon billionaires.”
-snip-
Durkan, many business leaders such as Amazon and construction-worker unions opposed it, as did Council President Bruce Harrell, Councilmembers Sally Bagshaw, Debora Juarez and Rob Johnson and some voters critical of how City Hall has been spending money.
-snip-
Seattle has been in a civil state of emergency over homelessness since late 2015. A point-in-time count last year tallied more than 11,600 homeless people in King County.
Proponents of the head tax say companies such as Amazon have contributed to homelessness because their highly-paid employees have driven up rents and home prices.
The council also approved a plan Monday to spend 66 percent of the new money on affordable housing, 32 percent on emergency shelter, trash pickup, raises for service workers and other needs and 2 percent on administration.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.com ...
Microsoft isn’t headquartered in Seattle. They’re in Redmond Washington.
Homelessness is now caused by high rent? Glad to hear it’s not drug abuse anymore
A developer could easily build a high-rise apt complex but zoning laws.
The space needle, with newly installed glass floor, will be an excellent aerial viewing platform of the scenic homeless camps below.
Starbucks headquarters is smack in downtown Seattle...
Won’t be long before those “large” companies include all companies.
The same scheme was used when the income tax was created. Scheming bastards.
The business’s will fire people to cut costs.
Now unemployed the people will not have enough to pay the mortgage or rent and will become homeless.
Seattle will raise taxes more to “fix” this....
Time for businesses to exit Seattle!
two types of city leaders- addicts and the insane
Oh wait. Social Security and SSI and Medicare are head taxes on employees.
But we conservatives have progressed, if not in our ideas then at least in our age, and we now love our Soc Sec, SSI and Medicare.
Conundrums. Conundrums.
Dear God, give them BANKRUPTCY and right soon.
$20 million a year in gross revenues is hardly large.
Why are communists and Marxists always interested in money? I thought they hated it, unless it is to pay their salaries for doing nothing or ruining something.
Their hatred stems when other people have money. "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.." This was the purpose of Obamination ... strip the 'independent' middle class of their hard earned money.
I notice by the 2016 communist/Marxist election campaign, nobody was bitching about the 1% any longer... They believed 'occupy wall street' had settled in Americans minds.
It is funny isn’t it that companies like Amazon want the perks of living in a “tolerant” community like Seattle, only to be bit in the behind by the same “tolerant” socialists when they need a bunch a moola for their pet causes.
It’ll be challenged in court. Amazon might even carry it to the Supreme Court.
What I think Amazon will do next is reshuffle their plan on the second headquarters, and aim for it to take 50-percent of the manpower of the Seattle operation. The speed of this will shock the city council, as they realize that a tremendous amount of local spending will end.
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