(The Center Square) – Seattle’s business community continues to argue that the city’s business taxes are driving companies to relocate jobs out of Seattle.
Both the Downtown Seattle Association and the Seattle Metro Chamber of Commerce said in a report released Monday that the Seattle’s tax collections have more than tripled from $900 million in 2013 to $1.65 billion today, with businesses paying an increasing share of the overall taxes.
“Seattle has experienced tremendous growth over the past decade, and this analysis gives us a clearer picture of how the city’s tax system has grown and changed along with it,” said DSA President & CEO Jon Scholes in a press release.
“What stands out is the widening gap between tax growth and growth in jobs and population, along with an increasing reliance on businesses for city revenue. At a time when Seattle is working to grow jobs and attract investment, understanding those dynamics is essential to our economic future.”
The analysis found that businesses accounted for about 55% of city taxes in 2016, rising to 68% in 2026.
The report said higher taxes are driven by Seattle payroll and social housing taxes passed since 2021.
The report comes just four days after an analysis from the Downtown Seattle Association revealed devastating job losses over the last few years. The DSA report found that between 2024 and 2025, Seattle lost more than 18,600 jobs, while neighboring cities such as Bellevue and Tacoma recorded gains.
So far, the campaign seems to be working for the business community, which had warned Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson that her campaign plan to tax businesses more would only lead to further job losses.
Wilson, a self-described democratic socialist, offered no tax increase in her 2027 budget released last month, despite the city facing a $175 million budget shortfall.
“Right now, we don’t have good options to raise more progressive revenue that don’t also come with great risks. Our economy and especially our downtown are fragile,” said Wilson at a press conference.
New taxes
The economic report by consulting firm ECOnorthwest said two narrow, targeted tax levies that didn’t exist five years ago now account for nearly a third of all business tax dollars the city collects.
The report said the first is the 2021 JumpStart Payroll Expense Tax, paid by fewer than 500 companies, with the top 10 taxpayers footing 73% of the total bill.
The tax targets companies with payrolls over $9 million and high-paying employees.
The second is the Social Housing Tax, passed in 2025, paid by roughly 220 entities, with its top 10 taxpayers covering 66%. The report said fewer than 20 companies account for roughly $356 million in annual City of Seattle revenue.
Amazon and other large tech companies opposed both taxes.
The City of Seattle also collects a Business and Occupational tax, which was restructured effective 2026 to put a larger burden on larger businesses.
The City Council approved the JumpStart tax, but voters approved the social housing tax to build more affordable housing.
“Seattle’s tax collections are growing far faster than its population, jobs or inflation. Employers are carrying more of that burden,” said Seattle Metro Chamber president & CEO Joe Nguyen at a press briefing after the report was released.
“The question cannot always be how to collect more money. It must be how to deliver better results with the money we already have and build a tax structure that helps our economy grow,” he said.
This heavy pivot to business revenue coincides with sharply divergent employment trends between Seattle and its neighboring Eastside, which includes Bellevue, the report said.
Scholes said at the press briefing that Amazon had moved around 10,000 jobs from Seattle to Bellevue during that period.
Seattle uses the Jumpstart Payroll tax to plug gaps in the city’s general fund and to fund specific allocations for homeless programs and affordable housing.
Nguyen agreed that the city charter only calls for the city to fund public safety programs and maintain utility infrastructure, giving Seattle wide discretion over its budget and its reliance on business taxes.
He said the city is making a concentrated effort to mitigate the impacts of federal budget aid cuts on Seattle, which is impossible.
“You can tax all the businesses all you want, all the people, all that you want,” he said. “So, we should decide what is the best way to use our resources for the communities here. And it can’t be everything.”
The Center Square reached out to Wilson and Seattle City Council members for a response to the tax analysis, but did not receive a response before publication.