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Seattle leaders on Tuesday repealed a tax on large companies such as Amazon and Starbucks after a backlash from businesses, a stark reversal from a month ago when the City Council unanimously approved the effort to combat a growing homelessness crisis. The council voted 7-2 after supporters and opponents packed a meeting with signs saying, "Tax Amazon, housing for all" and "No tax on jobs," with some shouting for more time to discuss the issue. The vote showed Amazon's ability to aggressively push back on government taxes, especially in its affluent hometown where it's the largest employer and where some...

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and city council members on Monday said they would consider legislation to repeal a “head tax” on the city’s large businesses, just weeks after the measure’s passage drew public criticism from Amazon, Starbucks and others. [SNIP] Amazon vice president and spokesman Drew Herdener said last month that the bill’s passage forced the company “to question our growth” in Seattle. "The city does not have a revenue problem – it has a spending efficiency problem. We are highly uncertain whether the city council’s anti-business positions or its spending inefficiency will change for the better," Herdener said at...

Bruce Kendall said Monday his phone at the Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County has been ringing steadily since last week's vote by the Seattle City Council to tax big businesses $275 per employee. "I've received inquiries over the last week from companies that have indicated they are exploring options for locations in Pierce County," Kendall said. "And they are telling me that's why they are calling me, because the head tax passed. Now companies have another reason to call: A $275 tax credit per employee for new, family-wage jobs. "Note the value, it's not random," tweeted state Rep. J.T....

Is Jeff Bezos having second thoughts about his political ideology and that of his newspaper? The founder of Amazon and owner of the Washington Post – and the richest man in the world at the current Amazon stock price – is being targeted by leftists because he has been so successful. Not for any alleged misbehavior, but simply because he and his company Amazon (not the WaPo) have so much money. Yesterday, Bernie Sanders attacked him by name, noting that the three richest men in America have as much wealth as the bottom half. Apparently, he believe that if they...

Seattle is worried about the well-being of the poor and mentally ill people living there, so it's going to drive businesses out of town. OK, that's not how the politicians describe their plan, but that's probably how it will work out. Members of Seattle's city council want all big Seattle businesses to pay a tax of $500 per employee. In response, Amazon stopped building a new complex. Construction workers joined Amazon in protesting the new tax. On the other side are city council members like Kshama Sawant. She and members of her political party, Socialist Alternative, demonstrated in support of...

With all the controversy surrounding the proposed “head tax” in Seattle, KIRO 7 wanted to know how much support there is for the plan. We teamed up with Strategies 360 to conduct an exclusive scientific poll on the tax and whether you trust the city to properly spend the money it will raise. Below are the results, which were first shown on KIRO 7 Morning News. On behalf of KIRO-TV, Strategies 360 conducted a live telephone survey of 400 registered voters in the city of Seattle, WA. Interviews were conducted May 11-13, 2018. A combination of landline and mobile phones...

SEATTLE -- Amazon is flexing its muscles making its opposition known to a proposed Seattle tax by bringing a halt to all planning on a massive project scheduled for construction in Downtown Seattle, and may tweak its plans to occupy a new downtown skyscraper. “I can confirm that pending the outcome of the head tax vote by City Council, Amazon has paused all construction planning on our Block 18 project in downtown Seattle and is evaluating options to sub-lease all space in our recently leased Rainier Square building," says Amazon Vice President Drew Herdener. The proposed "head tax" would apply...

Seattle’s largest businesses such as Amazon and Starbucks will have to pay a new tax to help fund homeless services and affordable housing under a measure approved by city leaders. The City Council unanimously passed a compromise plan Monday that taxes businesses making at least $20 million in gross revenues about $275 per full-time worker each year — lower than the $500 per worker initially proposed. The so-called “head tax” would raise roughly $48 million a year to build new affordable housing units and provide emergency homeless services. Etc...

The Seattle city council just voted 9-0 on an expansive tax that would seek to tax the city’s businesses that make over 20 million dollars a year in gross revenues. An earlier proposal that passed last week would have taxed businesses around $500 per employee per year. That measure — which passed 5-4 — Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan threatened to veto if it reached her desk.

After a weekend of high-stakes negotiations between Seattle City Council members and Mayor Jenny Durkan, the council voted unanimously Monday to tax the city’s largest employers to help address homelessness. Starting next year, the tax will be $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 proposal that Durkan threatened to veto. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Having paused construction planning on an office tower over the larger proposal, Amazon now will move ahead with it, a spokesman said after the vote. But the company’s plans to occupy a...

Hours after the Seattle City Council passed a head tax on the city’s largest businesses Monday, Amazon issued a statement in response. The online shopping giant is grateful that the city amended its head tax proposal to a lesser amount, but notes that it is wary of city leaders’ attitudes toward business. Amazon’s statement is attributed to Vice President Drew Herdener: "We are disappointed by today’s city council decision to introduce a tax on jobs. While we have resumed construction planning for Block 18, we remain very apprehensive about the future created by the council’s hostile approach and rhetoric toward...

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...

The Seattle City Council has approved a tax on large businesses such as Amazon and Starbucks to fight homelessness. The council on Monday unanimously backed a compromise tax plan that will charge large businesses about $275 per full-time worker a year. It’s lower than the $500-per-worker tax initially proposed. The tax would begin in 2019 and raise about $48 million a year to pay for affordable housing and homeless services. Some council members acknowledged it wasn’t enough to address urgent housing needs but conceded they couldn’t get the six votes needed to override a potential veto by the mayor. Other...

Kshama Sawant’s rally “March on Amazon! Tax Big Biz to Build Affordable Housing!” was planned well before a committee passed a head tax on big businesses, including Amazon. The full Seattle City Council is expected to vote on the proposal on Monday. ”Our message today for the council is to stay strong,” Kshama Sawant – one of the most vocal proponents of the tax – told KTTH’s Jason Rantz at the rally. The rally on Saturday began at Seattle Central College Plaza and preceded a march to Amazon’s headquarters in South Lake Union. This is extortion,” the events Facebook page...