Seattle City Council approves 'JumpStart' tax on big businesses

The Seattle City Council on Monday passed a new tax on big businesses with highly paid employees that would help provide relief during the city's coronavirus recovery and create more affordable housing moving forward.

The"JumpStart Seattle" Tax, proposed last month by Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, would apply to businesses with annual payrolls of $7 million or higher with employees who make $150,000 or more annually. The tax is expected to raise more than $200 million a year.

Under the legislation, which passed in a 7-2 vote, companies would be taxed between 0.7% and 2.4%, depending on the size of their annual payrolls and the salaries of their employees. Certain businesses, such as grocery stores, would be exempt.

During the council meeting Monday, many city residents called into the council demanding they pass the tax and praising the "Tax Amazon" movement. The plan received support from dozens of organizations in the city, including several that work with people experiencing homelessness, such as Compass Housing Alliance, the Downtown Emergency Services Center and Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness.

It has also faced some pushback. Last week, officials from the Downtown Seattle Association, along with the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and other business groups, sent a letter to City Council opposing the tax. They called on the city to focus on getting businesses open and workers "back on their feet" rather than new taxes.

https://www.seattlepi.com/seattlenews/article/Seattle-City-Council-approves-JumpStart-tax-on-15389499.php

Let's hope this is better than the last attempt. On that one it turned out that many of the so-called big businesses weren't that large.