Seattle's tax test: big employers and the social costs of wealth
Dozens of US cities have been courting Amazon as a job-creating tenant, but Cooper Moore has a different viewpoint, having watched how the retail giant has changed his home city of Seattle.
“If a company comes in and disrupts the livability of the city, then a responsible government looks to that entity to provide a solution,” says Mr. Moore, who works at a YMCA and is concerned about Seattle’s high number of homeless residents.
The Seattle City Council essentially agreed – until this week, that is.
It’s a tale with cautionary lessons for cities around the country. In May, the council passed a tax on large employers – those with annual revenue above $20 million – and asked them to pay a $275-per-employee “head tax” to help finance solutions for homelessness.
But amid rising opposition, not just from the companies but from residents concerned about the negative signaling of a
