SEATTLE (AP) – Amazon has halted construction planning on a new high-rise building near its headquarters while it awaits the outcome of a Seattle city proposal to tax worker hours.
The Seattle City Council is considering a “head tax” on high-grossing businesses to raise about $75 million a year for affordable housing and homelessness services.
Supporters say businesses that have benefited most from Seattle’s economic boom should help solve urgent problems that have come with it, such as soaring rents and a spike in people living on the streets.
Amazon, which employs more than 45,000 workers in Seattle, is estimated to pay more than $20 million under the proposal. The employee-hours tax would apply to companies with gross annual income of more than $20 million, which would apply to about 585 businesses.
Amazon vice president Drew Herdener said in a statement Wednesday that the Seattle-based online retailer has put on hold construction planning for a 17-story tower, pending a council vote on the tax. In addition, he said the company is evaluating options to sublease all space it recently leased in another downtown skyscraper under construction.