Business should be helping Seattle find homelessness solutions

This post originally appeared in the Puget Sound Business Journal’s “Wright on Center” column on June 1, 2018.

The Seattle head tax that was passed unanimously by the City Council is a contentious issue. This tax is on top of other taxes, fees and regulations businesses grapple with on a daily basis. It has no accountability provision nor measured outcome standards. 

It is no surprise, then, that large and small businesses are angry about the head tax. 

Job providers, as a matter of design, are averse to taking on unexpected expenses. Taxing business for creating jobs is not only shortsighted but destructive for our region. This logic will lead to fewer jobs in Seattle, less money going directly to our region’s important nonprofits, and tear at the fabric of the American dream to have a middle-class job that is safe and with just compensation.

When you see a thriving business community and increased wealth in Seattle juxtaposed with homeless encampments it can be jarring. One possible reaction is to “level the playing field” by going after the businesses.

The problem is, we already demand extraordinarily high taxes from our local businesses, and that money has not been leveraged in a way that has solved or even demonstrably improved the homeless crisis. Business is used to tackling tough challenges by providing solutions. Business should be at “the table of solutions,” not the “table of penalties.”

The homelessness crisis in Seattle should not be over-simplified and marketed to voters as a funding issue. If funding were the only solution, we would have seen more progress result from the past state of emergency declaration, several taskforces, and increased taxes over the past five years.

Clearly the City Council does not have all the answers to this problem. Demanding that employers take on an un-budgeted tax burden without a well-defined and measurable outcome is wrongheaded. Poor optics, and to a lesser extent, value signaling are to blame for this approach.

After Mayor Jenny Durkan talked down the price to the more aggressive members of the council, the head tax would raise around $47 million. This is in addition to the $80 million the government is spending this year.

My suggestion? Appoint a czar, then lock policymakers, business leaders, advocates, police and community groups in a room until they arrive at a consensus. Including all stakeholders as part of building a solution works. This was our successful approach with the $15 per hour minimum wage initiative I co-chaired with labor leader David Rolf.

The Seattle business community ultimately accepted and instituted this wage increase once they were included in the discussion. The alternative is to allow the goodwill and extraordinary philanthropy of Seattle’s business community to erode, potentially give less, and ultimately look to do business outside the city.

Instead of cooperation, Seattle’s political discourse has evolved to promote blaming and shaming. In that regard, the Seattle City Council risks following the lead of President Donald Trump, just in a left-leaning direction. We should demand thoughtful, respectful and sincere collaboration from our political leaders, which I have always believed was the core of true liberalism.