In this episode, co-hosts Natalie Argerious and Ray Dubicki welcome Ron Davis to talk about a proposed JumpStart Tax Holiday in the city of Seattle. Ron last joined the pod to talk about how the city’s comprehensive planning was lacking a level of seriousness. There is a tax holiday idea floating that’s not all that different.
The JumpStart tax was passed by Seattle’s City Council in 2020 after years of attempting to find a progressive revenue stream tapping into the biggest earners and businesses in the city. Surviving a number of challenges, including the rescinded “head tax,” JumpStart raised enough revenue to build hundreds of homes and plug the city’s budget hole. Now, business interests are arguing that the city’s recovery requires large companies secure a holiday from this tax.
It is also time for The Urbanist’s Spring Subscriber Drive. If you enjoy this podcast or the reporting and advocacy we do, please consider becoming a subscriber. Details are at the urbanist.org/donate.
As always, we love to hear from you. Tell us your expectations for the future of light rail in Seattle, and what you want to see from new stations. Reach out to us at podcast [at] theurbanist.org.
You can find The Urbanist podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and other major platforms. And if you are enjoying the podcast, be sure to offer a “like” or “thumbs up” on your favorite platform. It’s a great way to spread the word to new listeners.
Ray Dubicki is a stay-at-home dad and parent-on-call for taking care of general school and neighborhood tasks around Ballard. This lets him see how urbanism works (or doesn’t) during the hours most people are locked in their office. He is an attorney and urbanist by training, with soup-to-nuts planning experience from code enforcement to university development to writing zoning ordinances. He enjoys using PowerPoint, but only because it’s no longer a weekly obligation.