page_title: Seattle head tax
section_title: Opposition and repeal
hierarchical_section_title: Seattle head tax / Proposal and political debate / Opposition and repeal
caption_attribution_description: English: Signature gatherers for the "No Tax on Jobs" campaign (opposing the Seattle head tax) outside the Seattle Central Library in the early days of the campaign.
context_page_description: The Seattle head tax, officially the employee hours tax, was a proposed head tax to be levied on large employers in Seattle, Washington, United States. The head tax was proposed in 2017 to fund homeless services and outreach and was set at a rate of $275 annually per employee, with hopes of raising up to $50 million annually.
  The controversial head tax ordinance was passed by the Seattle City Council in May 2018 and was signed into law by Mayor Jenny Durkan, to be in effect for five years before consideration for renewal. The tax was criticized for targeting Amazon, the city's largest employer, and was opposed by the business community. A citizen referendum was planned by business groups and gathered enough signatures to qualify for an upcoming election, but the city council repealed the head tax less than a month later.
context_section_description: The city's largest employers, including Amazon and Starbucks, and several labor unions released statements criticizing the city council's decision and its approach to addressing homelessness. Business groups who remained opposed to the head tax responded days later with the formation of a campaign to overturn the city council decision through a citizens' initiative. The campaign, named "No Tax on Jobs", received $325,000 in committed donations from local economic development groups and businesses, including Amazon, Starbucks, Kroger (owners of Fred Meyers and QFC), Albertsons (owners of Safeway), and Vulcan, Inc. The campaign was given until June 14 to collect 17,600 valid signatures to bring the initiative to the November 2018 ballot, and reportedly surpassed the threshold by June 11 using on-street petitioning by 2,000 volunteers.
  On June 11, less than a month after the unanimous approval of the head tax, the city council announced plans for a special session to consider repealing the tax, to be held the following day. The seven councilmembers who are up for re-election in 2019, along with Mayor Durkan, voiced their support for the repeal in the wake of the initiative's signature-gathering campaign. The repeal was passed by a 7–2 vote of the city council, despite several interruptions from supporters of the tax. The two dissenting councilmembers, Sawant and Teresa Mosqueda, criticized the repeal for being unaccountable and a "cowardly betrayal". The 24-hour notice for the special session was also criticized for being potentially in violation of the state's advance notice laws.
caption: Signature-gatherers for the No Tax on Jobs campaign, seen at the Seattle Central Library in late May
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