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.
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
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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.
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Seattle Bus Lane Cameras Capture Over 100,000 Violations
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Immigration Grows, Population Drops in Many U.S. Counties
International immigration to the country’s most populous areas tripled even as major metropolitan areas continued to lose population.
$616 Million in Development Incentives Approved for District Detroit
The “Transformational Brownfield” incentives approved by the Detroit City Council for the $1.5 billion District Detroit still require approval by the state.
Affordable Housing Development Rejected for Lack of Third Staircase in Connecticut
The New Canaan Planning Commission rejected a development proposal, including 31 below-market-rate apartments, for lack of a third staircase, among other reasons, at a time when advocates are pushing to relax two-staircase requirements.
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