, also asked the city not to enact any new taxes or fees. City Council Budget Committee Chair Teresa Mosqueda said the B&O tax makes up 20% of the city’s general fund and is expected to take in $335 million this year.
“Many folks here already feel heavily taxed. A lot of the working class and the middle class, I’m sure feel this way,” KIRO Newsradio host Ursula Reutin said. “Wealthy residents pay tax rates many times lower than the rates other people pay. I’m talking about underfunding of K-12 education. I’m talking about higher education. I’m talking about childcare. I’m talking about public health. I’m talking about behavioral health care. All of those different things.
Washington ranks just 31st among the 50 states in the percentage of the total income of the state’s population going to state and local taxes. The JumpStart tax was passed in 2020 despite a lot of pushback. It targets employers with more than $8 million in annual payroll expenses. Big businesses have to pay a tax for all their employees who make at least $150,000 a year. And it actually brought in $34 million in 2021, which was more than expected. Most of that money goes toward affordable housing.