Seattle City Council Votes On Proposed 'High Earner' Income Tax

SEATTLE, WA - The Council's finance committee on Wednesday morning voted to move a proposed income tax proposal to a vote of the whole Council. That means the larger City Council could approve the measure as soon as Monday. Wednesday's committee vote to move the legislation to the larger Council was unanimous.

The proposed "higher-earner" tax would charge a 2.25 percent income tax on joint households earning $500,000 or more, or a single person earning $250,000 or more per year. Seattle estimates that the tax would bring in about $125 million in revenue per year, which would allow the city to lower property and possibly sales taxes. Recent amendments to the original proposal would also use proceeds to back-fill possible Medicaid cuts.

"This is a step toward a fairer tax system. We will use the tax proceeds to lower property taxes and to fund essential city services. In a state with the most regressive tax structure in the entire country, Seattle is again leading with progressive reforms," Councilman Tim Burgess said in a statement after the vote.

Councilmembers Kshama Sawant and Lisa Herbold were the original sponsors of the legislation.

However, even if the full Council approves the tax on Monday or later, the legislation will likely be challenged in court. That's because a state Supreme Court from the 1930s found that income taxation is against the state constitution.

Before Sawant introduced the legislation, Mayor Ed Murray had specifically asked the Council to create an income tax to get the issue in front of the courts as soon as possible.

Image via Seattle Channel