Corporate opposition to Seattle tax proposal grows
Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) last week buttressed opposition to Proposition 1A with a $100,000 contribution to the campaign to halt the proposed $52 million-a-year payroll tax to fund the nascent Seattle Social Housing public development authority.
According to filings with the city Ethics and Elections Commission, Amazon joins other major companies, including Microsoft, T-Mobile and Weyerhaeuser, in backing the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce's campaign in support of an alternative proposal, Proposition 1B. Prop. 1B, which the City Council placed on the ballot with support from Mayor Bruce Harrell, would tap an existing payroll tax $10 million a year for five years.
Prop. 1A would levy a new tax on employers requiring them to pay 5% on individuals with total annual compensation of over $1 million. The tax, which would be permanent, would fund the acquisition and preservation of housing that would be permanently owned by the public, with rents capped at 30% of the renter's income.
Backers of 1A say it would raise $52 million annually and create 2,000 housing units over 10 years.
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2025/02/03/amzon-joins-foes-seattle-social-housing-tax.html