Seattle tax opposed by Amazon will be likely be rescinded
Seattle tax opposed by Amazon will be likely be rescinded
By Phuong Le, Associated Press • June 11, 2018
SEATTLE (AP) -- Seattle city leaders said Monday they
will work to repeal a tax on large businesses just one month after unanimously
approving the measure to help pay for affordable housing and homeless services.
Mayor Jenny Durkan and seven of nine councilmembers said
in a joint statement that "it is clear that the ordinance will lead to a
prolonged, expensive political fight over the next five months that will do
nothing to tackle our urgent housing and homelessness crisis."
"We heard you," they said, adding that the City
Council would consider legislation this week. A special meeting has been
scheduled for Tuesday. The measure would need five votes to pass.
The announcement of a pending repeal comes just days
before Thursday's deadline for the campaign working to overturn the tax to turn
in signatures to qualify the referendum for the November ballot.
The City Council last month unanimously passed a
compromise plan that taxes businesses making at least $20 million in gross
revenues about $275 per full-time worker each year. The so-called "head
tax" would have raised roughly $48 million a year for housing and homeless
services.
Amazon and other businesses had sharply criticized the
tax, and the online retail giant even temporarily halted construction planning
on a new high-rise building near its Seattle headquarters ahead of the vote.
Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, one of four sponsors of the
original tax proposal, said Monday she could not back repealing the tax without
"a replacement strategy to house and shelter our neighbors experiencing
homelessness."
"We cannot wait months or until next year for
another proposal or process while people are sleeping in our parks and on our
streets," she said in a statement.
John Murray, a spokesman with the No Tax on Jobs
campaign, said Monday that the coalition appreciates that the "Seattle
City Council has heard the voices of the people loud and clear and are now
reconsidering this ill-conceived tax."
He said they'll await the result of the council vote. The
campaign has raised about $235,000, with many more employers pledging their
support, including Amazon, Starbucks and Paul Allen's Vulcan.
Proponents say people are dying on the streets, and while
city-funded programs found homes for 3,400 people last year, the problem
deepens. The Seattle region had the third-highest number of homeless people in
the U.S. and saw 169 homeless deaths in 2017.
The debate over raising taxes on businesses like Amazon
in Seattle comes as 20 cities vie to lure Amazon's second headquarters and as
it expands its workforce in Boston and Vancouver, British Columbia.
Cities have offered lavish tax breaks and incentives to
lure the company and its promise of adding tens of thousands of high-paying
jobs. Critics however have said it was wrong for profitable company to push for
public money, especially considering the added costs to infrastructure and
services the new headquarters would bring.
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