John Curley: Seattle is ‘scaring the golden geese across the I-90 bridge’ with payroll tax

Seattle’s payroll expense tax was expected to generate $406.8 million in revenue, but according to a year-end revenue report from the Office of Economic and Revenue Forecasts (OERF), the actual amount the tax generated was nearly $50 million less than anticipated. Joe Fain, the President and CEO of the Bellevue Chamber, said his city is benefiting.

According to Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, the shortage of funds comes from large corporations moving jobs out of the city. He accused the companies of not paying their fair share. But the host of “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio says this payroll tax forecast miss shows you the threat Bellevue poses to Seattle.

“So, over there in Bellevue, when they scare the golden geese across the I-90 bridge, they come running over, and those golden geese set up shop over there in Bellevue,” John Curley said.

Unhappy in Seattle? Bellevue leaders say to move to their city

Fain agreed and says the city is happy to accommodate businesses that don’t feel welcome in Seattle.

“You can just look on I-90 and you can see every time the Seattle City Council meets, there’s another stream of cars and U-Hauls heading over across the bridge,” Fain explained to “The John Curley Show.” “You’ve seen about 20% of Amazon’s workforce in Seattle has shifted over to Bellevue since the passage of that jumpstart tax, and that’s just one company. There are others, many that never make a headline, that have made similar choices, and my phone was ringing off the hook in the weeks following that passage, as folks are wondering, ‘Who do we connect with for office space?’ ‘What’s the economic environment really like over there?’ ‘What do we need to know about moving to Bellevue?'”

Listen to the full conversation here.

Listen to “The John Curley Show” weekday afternoons from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio. 

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