Seattle To Vote on Controversial Head Tax on Amazon, Others

The rest of the country will be watching Seattle Monday, as the City Council is set to vote on a controversial head tax that would require companies who gross $20 million or more in annual profits to pay $275 a year per worker.

This head tax has been scaled back from the original proposal of $500. Mayor Jenny Durkan heeded the not-so-subtle warnings from retail giant Amazon, who threatened to halt construction of it's new 17-story corporate headquarters downtown. And, they made noises about looking at other cities for it's second corporate headquarters site and other operations as well.

Over the weekend, reports the Seattle Times, the major worked with city council members to create a revised proposal that would charge the $275. Durkan had made a proposal of $250, which Amazon appeared to be willing to accept, but it was voted down by the finance committee on Friday.  The Mayor had also said she would veto the $500 tax if it had passed.

It is not known if Amazon will accept the $275 per worker proposal. The tax would sunset or go away in 2023. The money will reportedly be used to combat Seattle's raging homeless problem, but critics are asking what's happened to the millions already spent on such programs over the last few years.