Seattle City Council voted unanimously Monday to introduce a $275 per employee tax on the city’s most profitable companies to generate revenue to combat homelessness.
The tax, which will affect companies grossing at least $20 million each year from 2019, was originally proposed at $500 per employee before Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan threatened to veto the bill, according to multiple reports.
The council estimated the tax, set to impact the likes of Amazon, Starbucks, Boeing, Costco Wholesalers, and Microsoft, will drum up about $47 million every annum before it sunsets in 2023. A council vote would be required to renew the “head tax.”
Sixty-six percent of the money raised will be invested in affordable housing, 32 percent in emergency shelters, trash collection, and wage increases for service workers, and 2 percent in administration, according to a nonbinding resolution the council also passed Monday.
Durkan announced in a press conference following the 9-0 vote that an oversight committee would be established to monitor spending.
Amazon vice president Drew Herdener slammed the city ordinance, saying council had adopted a “hostile approach and rhetoric toward larger businesses, which forces us to question our growth here.”
Seattle declared a homeless state of emergency in 2015, attributed to cost of living pressures exacerbated by an economic boom in the city.
