Author: Kevin Schofield

Kevin Schofield is a freelance writer and the founder of Seattle City Council Insight, a web site providing independent news and analysis of the Seattle City Council. After graduating from Dartmouth College with a Bachelor of Arts degree, he worked for Microsoft Corporation for 26 years. That culminated in a term as Chief Operations Officer for Microsoft Research, the division of the company focused on advancing the state of the art in computing. Upon leaving Microsoft in 2014 he decided to embrace his love of writing. Kevin volunteers at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, where he also serves on the Board of Directors. He is also Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California. Beyond writing, his personal passions are his twin daughters, photography, cooking, and playing the guitar. He lives in Seattle, Washington.

Council patching up payroll tax ordinance to try to avoid court defeat

On By In legal, tax

Tomorrow afternoon the City Council will likely give its final approval to a modification to the “Jump Start” payroll tax ordinance it passed last summer. If you read the memo written by Council staff, you will see a feel-good story about the city making this change as a result of feedback from companies. But that’s not what’s really going on with this change: in truth, it’s an attempt to fix a potentially fatal flaw in the ordinance before a King County Superior Court judge hears a challenge to it next month.

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Seattle Public Utilities issues updated strategic plan, new proposed rates

On By In utilities

Tomorrow morning, Seattle Public Utilities will appear in front of the City Council’s Transportation and Utilities Committee to present its updated six-year strategic plan and an accompanying six-year plan for the rates it will be charging its customers. The strategic plan summarizes the highlights and challenges for the public utility company, including the factors leading to the new proposed rates.

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