Seattle chamber appeals dismissal of lawsuit against city’s ‘JumpStart’ payroll tax

By

Seattle Times reporter

A lawsuit over Seattle’s new large corporate high wage tax continues, with one group of companies doubling its lawsuit against the tax.

A King County judge dismissed the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce’s lawsuit against the JumpStart tax last month and led city council members who passed the measure last year to declare the victory.

On Friday, the Chamber announced an appeal against the ruling and asked the Washington State Court of Appeals to overturn the ruling.

The group of companies argues that JumpStart is an illegal tax on workers and their right to livelihood, while Seattle’s lawyers say the measure is a tax on employers and their business activities.

“Our success in this lawsuit has not been in doubt, given that lawmakers have expressly authorized the imposition of such a progressive tax,” said City Attorney Pete Holmes last month after Judge Mary Roberts dismissed the lawsuit.

“This is an important legal issue that needs to be resolved and that needs to be reviewed by the appeals court,” Chamber President Rachel Smith said on Friday.

JumpStart went into effect this year, with Mayor Jenny Durkan and the council relying on expected revenues of more than $ 200 million to fill pandemic-related holes in the Seattle 2021 budget and help residents. From 2022, a large part of the money will be earmarked for affordable housing.

The measure stipulates that companies with an annual wage bill of $ 7 million or more will be taxed 0.7 to 2.4 percent on salaries paid to Seattle employees who earn at least $ 150,000 a year. The top rate of 2.4% supposed to apply to companies like Amazon taxes salaries of at least $ 400,000 for companies with an annual salary of at least $ 1 billion.

Daniel Beekmann:
206-464-2164 or dbeekman@seattletimes.com; on Twitter: @dbeekman. Seattle Times reporter Daniel Beekman covers the Seattle city council and local politics.