How much tax are you going to get when Amazon shifts to HQ2? Bezos deliberately started Amazon here in Washington because there was no state tax.
I’ve been an Amazon employee and I’ve paid a lot of taxes here and have seen the government waste that money. Our property tax has gone up by hundreds of dollars a month and our schools, roads, and police forces are still in disarray. I don’t mind paying tax as long as it’s ised effectively and efficiently.
Property and sales tax are necessary in Washington in lieu of an income tax.
If you live in Seattle, schooling, roads and even the police aren’t that bad (compared to other cities), heck, you can choose to live in Bellevue where all those things are better (though at the cost of being boring). In general, taxes get used pretty darn well in WA, at least compared to other states.
> police aren’t that bad (compared to other cities)
You mean the police department that was investigated by the DOJ for being engaged in a "pattern or pratice" of violating constitutional rights through excessive force, specifically against minorities?
The same police department that turns a blind eye to _any_ property crime?
Just making sure that we're talking about the same Seattle Police Department here. SPD has been a disgrace for the past 10+ years.
1) i presume youre talking about the consent decree and mou dating from ~2011. Which spd has been in full conpliance with. And IIRC this is the last year of “sustainment” monitoring.
2) thats SPD abiding by prosecutor enforcement priorities. Go ask the king county DA why they dismissed 1500 misdemeanors last year, why they wont prosecute theft or vandalism, or why illegal firearm possession is book and release.
Relative to other cities, the SPD isn’t bad. They are putting up with typical boom town problems, but that is really nothing new for Seattle given its historically enhanced position in the boom/bust cycle.
If he can convince thousands and thousands of employees to pack up everything and move across the country on a whim, then he can go ahead. No stopping that.
Washington state has already been through this shit with Boeing.
Well, if you move to New Jersey you will be in for a surprise with your property taxes. This tax proposal hits the corporation, not the employees. And its laughable, and shameful, how little tax Amazon pays.
I’ve been an Amazon employee and I’ve paid a lot of taxes here and have seen the government waste that money. Our property tax has gone up by hundreds of dollars a month and our schools, roads, and police forces are still in disarray. I don’t mind paying tax as long as it’s ised effectively and efficiently.