While the state legislature is preparing to meet with stakeholders to hammer out the details of House Bill 2907, which would grant King County authorization to impose a payroll tax, Seattle officials continue to fret over whether the final bill will preempt the City of Seattle from imposing its own tax on top of the county’s.
Continue readingTag: head tax
Catching up on HB 2907, the proposed new county-wide payroll tax
On Friday, HB 2907, which would authorize a new payroll tax in King County on companies with employees earning more than $150,000, passed out of the Washington State House Finance Committee. But the road ahead is still long and bumpy, and what lies at the end is still far from clear.
Continue readingCity tries to dismiss lawsuit over head tax repeal
Yesterday the City of Seattle filed a motion to dismiss one of two lawsuits filed against it that alleged the City Council and Mayor violated the Open Public Meetings Act when they repealed the head tax.
Continue readingLawsuit filed challenging Council’s repeal of the head tax
Late last week, a lawsuit was filed against the City of Seattle, alleging the City Council and the Mayor violated the Open Public Meetings Act when they pushed through a repeal of the controversial head tax last Tuesday.
Continue readingCouncil repeals the head tax
As expected, this afternoon the City Council voted to repeal the employee hours tax, aka the “head tax,” that it enacted last month.
Continue readingCouncil moves suddenly and swiftly to repeal the head tax
In a sudden and unexpected move today, Council President Bruce Harrell introduced a bill that would repeal the recently-enacted employee-hours tax (aka the “head tax”) and scheduled a special meeting of the full City Council for tomorrow to deliberate and vote on it.
Continue readingCouncil passes shrunken head tax
This afternoon the City Council resolved its stalemate and passed a compromise “head tax.” It imposes an annual tax of $275 per full-time employee (or full-time equivalent) on businesses making $20 million or more in revenues per year in Seattle.
Continue readingHead tax passes, nearly unchanged, out of committee
At least it was civil. This morning all nine Council members showed up for the Finance and Neighborhoods Committee deliberations on the proposed head tax. Several of them offered substantive changes to the tax. They debated and voted for two and a half hours, and when the dust settled, none of the substantive amendments proposed had passed — just a few technical changes and clarifications. They then voted the bill out of committee, sending it to Monday afternoon’s Full Council meeting for final approval and a probable veto by Mayor Durkan.
Continue readingFriday news roundup: the head tax showdown
Surprise! Everyone is still talking about the head tax.
Continue readingA preview of proposed amendments to the head tax
Friday morning the Council will once again take up the proposed head tax, this time offering and voting on specific amendments. While we can expect some last-minute amendments, several have already been posted online. Here’s what will be up for consideration.
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