Historic Tax Hike Threatens to Push Jobs Out Of Seattle
August 7, 2020
As the local economy continues to reel from the global health pandemic, Seattle’s business community is facing a host of new challenges courtesy of a massive business tax adopted by the City Council. The new tax would affect more than 700 local businesses and many of those business owners say it is a direct threat to their ability to stay in Seattle long-term.
Q13 Fox Seattle’s Hana Kim reported that some are questioning the long-term impacts the new tax will have not just on high earners, but on midsized companies and small businesses who are fighting for survival.
Downtown Seattle Association President Jon Scholes says that the threat of business owners fleeing the city is real. “It’s like the folks who wrote this bill is not reading the same headlines I am reading. I saw a headline the other day about Nordstrom laying off, furloughing thousands of employees,” Scholes said.
Now is the time for state and local leaders to put political priorities aside and rally around the Seattle businesses our economy depends on. Punitive tax hikes on employers unnecessarily threaten our economic recovery, not to mention the livelihood of thousands more who can’t afford to lose their paychecks in the middle of an unprecedented health crisis.