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| Subject: After Amazon opposition, Seattle passes compromise tax to fund homeless services Mon May 14, 2018 8:37 pm | |
| The Seattle City Council passed a new tax on big businesses Monday to help address the city’s growing homelessness problem, agreeing to a lower rate than initially proposed after complaints from Amazon.com and other city firms. Seattle Mayor Jenny A. Durkan (D) is expected to sign the measure, which passed unanimously and will impose an annual tax of $275 on each employee at businesses making at least $20 million a year in revenue. The initial proposal — $500 per employee — met aggressive opposition from Amazon. Some construction workers opposed the tax out of concern for their jobs while supporters pressed the council to do something about the rapidly expanding number of homeless families in the city. After the council began considering the tax earlier this month, Amazon took the unusual step of halting construction plans on its expansion, putting the brakes on a development site in the northern end of the city’s downtown and vowing that it would forgo additional leased space if the council moved forward.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/after-amazon-opposition-seattle-passes-compromise-tax-to-fund-homeless-services/2018/05/14/2a7732a2-57b6-11e8-8836-a4a123c359ab_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f9ae03df3511
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