SEATTLE (AP) - A proposal to tax large businesses in Seattle to pay for housing and homeless services has cleared a council committee and heads to the council for a vote Monday.
The proposal remained largely unchanged Friday after the council rejected several amendments that would have lowered the tax rate or made other major changes.
One amendment backed by Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan would have cut the tax rate in half, to roughly $250 per full-time worker a year. But the council narrowly rejected that.
Under the proposal that advanced out of committee, nearly 600 large employers making at least $20 million in revenue would pay about $500 a year per worker. The tax would raise about $75 million annually.
Durkan said Friday she doesn’t support that version but remained hopeful the council would pass a bill she can sign.
Some bill sponsors said Friday that the city is facing an affordable housing crisis and they want to work to find a way forward.
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