Amazon will resume construction on a Seattle skyscraper in the wake of the City Council’s decision to tax its top-grossing businesses $275 per employee, per hour worked, each year. But the company is “very apprehensive” about its future in its hometown because of “hostile approach and rhetoric toward larger businesses.”...MORE
For the past few weeks, the city has been considering a $500 “head tax” on businesses with more than $20 million in annual revenue, a price tag that led Amazon to pause construction on its Block 18 office tower and reconsider whether it will move into the massive Rainier Square office complex. On Monday, the city unanimously approved a smaller version of the head tax — also sometimes referred to as the “Amazon tax.”
Amazon issued the following statement, from Vice President Drew Herdener, in response to the vote:
We are disappointed by today’s City Council decision to introduce a tax on jobs. While we have resumed construction planning for Block 18, we remain very apprehensive about the future created by the council’s hostile approach and rhetoric toward larger businesses, which forces us to question our growth here....
Previously:
"Amazon halts Seattle construction project ahead of tax vote" (AMZN)
