by AP & KOMO News Staff
Wed, July 1, 2020 at 5:16 PM
Updated Wed, July 1, 2020 at 10:59 PM
Seattle City Hall (Photo: KOMO News)
SEATTLE — The Seattle City Council has taken a key step toward adopting a new tax on big businesses.
The council voted in a budget committee meeting Wednesday to advance a proposal expected to raise more than $200 million per year. The full council must still approve it and Mayor Jenny Durkan would still have to sign it for it to take effect.
Just two years ago, the council — under pressure from corporations such as Amazon and the prospect of a voter referendum — repealed a $47 million-per-year big business tax adopted weeks before.
Lead sponsor and council member Teresa Mosqueda says the new tax would would target companies with many highly paid employees, whereas the 2018 “head tax” would have applied to all employees at large companies.
Mosqueda's measure would raise less money than the Tax Amazon proposal, but it may have broader support among other council members.
Under the Mosqueda plan, the tax would apply to companies with headquarters in Seattle that also have payrolls of $7 million or more and employees who earn $150,000 or more annually.