It’s "dramatically higher" than any number under discussion, and not even close to what the city will raise with its new tax on large businesses.
Monday, the Seattle City Council passed a measure that will tax large businesses (those that gross more than $20 million per year) $275 per employee per year; though the amount is less than it was in the original proposal, the implementing the "head tax" will raise an estimated $45 million to address the very serious housing crisis in the region.
It’s not a small sum, but it’s a fraction of the $400 million the consulting firm McKinsey recently estimated that the city would need to spend to house all its homeless citizens; that number, writes David Kroman at Crosscut, is “dramatically higher than any dollar amount under serious discussion either in Seattle City Hall or in King County Council chambers.”
“In addition to the dollar estimate,” Kroman goes on, “the report found strong correlation between rising rents and the rising homeless population.”
Seattle is only one of many American cities with very high rents and an increasingly number of people unable to afford them, and only one of several that have tried to find new revenue streams or additional funds to address the issue.
Read the full story: The pricetag to solve homelessness: $400M a year, new estimate says
Seattle Reaches Compromise on Controversial Tax for Affordable Housing
The Seattle City Council, prompted by pressure from Mayor Jenny Durkan, approved a smaller version of the "Head Tax" that provoked the ire of Amazon.
Amazon, Seattle Go to War Over Proposed Tax
Amazon, a company with cities throwing money at its feet all over the country, has decided to halt construction on an expansion in its hometown over a proposed "head tax."
Tax on High Earners Proposed to Fund Homeless Services in Seattle's King County
The Washington State Legislature is proposing a type of tax that the city of Seattle tried, and failed, to implement a few years go.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority