‘Not a great system’: Actor, cafe owner Hill Harper criticizes WA’s support for small businesses

Hill Harper—local cafe owner, actor known for his work in “CSI: NY” and “The Good Doctor,” and former U.S. Senate candidate in Michigan—is speaking out about the challenges of owning a small business in King County.

“Everyone I’ve met in the Seattle area, fantastic people, some of the best people. But the way the system is set up for small businesses, I’ve learned quite quickly it’s not a great system,” he shared on “The Gee and Ursula Show” Monday. “It’s not supportive of small business and job creators, etc., and it’s really unfortunate, because I think a lot of people don’t realize it.”

Hill created ASA, a cafe turned cocktail bar at night on Mercer Island, named after ASA Mercer, the founder of the University of Washington.

“It’s very small, it’s lovely, beautiful patio,” he said. “And I just thought it would be a great amenity for the community and hopefully would draw people from Seattle to Mercer Island, and draw people from Bellevue to Mercer Island.”

Hill Harper: What WA is doing to small businesses is ‘outrageous’

Hill said while the response has been incredible, what Washington is doing to small businesses is “outrageous.”

“The Department of Revenue does a gross tax at the end of every month, which is off your gross receipts, meaning your gross sales as a hospitality business, so it doesn’t take into account anything as far as your costs,” Hill explained. “And so the ability to amortize costs over time really hamstrings a business.”

He believes the policy is weighted toward large-scale businesses.

“You’re doing mass bulk orders, you’re able to drive your monthly costs way down. But if you’re a small mom and pop, like my shop, we have to order in onesies and twosies because we just don’t have the storage. And what happens is your cost of goods is way higher,” Hill shared.

When asked if business owners are not allowed to deduct any expenses, Hill responded, “Yes, and the problem is also that it’s a monthly hit, meaning every month they’re looking at your gross sales, which gross sales isn’t really an accurate indication of the health of a business.”

He noted that while people tend to complain about the quality of service, they often overlook the impact of business policies.

Listen to the full conversation below.

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