“Cupertino elected officials have scrapped a controversial plan — for now — to impose an employee tax on Apple and other businesses in the city, saying they don’t want to move forward in haste and will instead ask voters to weigh in during a special election in 2019,” Khalida Sarwari reports for Bay Area News Group.
“Though the city council intended only to discuss the plan Tuesday night, after impassioned public comment during which several people spoke out against the proposal as either too vague or unfair to businesses, the council voted 3-1 to put off placing a measure on the November 2018 ballot. Vice Mayor Rod Sinks recused himself because his wife is an Apple employee,” Sarwari reports. “Councilman Barry Chang dissented, saying that waiting even another year would prolong the city’s transportation problems. ‘I think not only here, the big corporations in the entire nation, the corporations need to take up their fair share to help solve the problems we are facing now,’ Chang said. ‘So that’s why this issue needs to be done and needs to be done now instead of waiting.'”
“Chang said he proposed a more ambitious plan two years ago — which would have charged businesses $1,000 per employee — but that that proposal was shot down by other council members,” Sarwari reports. “‘Two years ago, no council member supported it, so nothing happened,’ he said. ‘Two years passed. If we don’t do anything this time now, another two years will pass, nothing will happen, I guarantee you.’
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: “If we don’t do anything this time now, another two years will pass, nothing will happen.” Good, because it’s a stupid idea.
Leave it to the Cupertino City Councilman Barry Chang to attempt milking the golden goose. Again. Although they have a long history of doing so, Cupertino really should stop electing the mentally challenged.
Unfortunately, Apple’s now a sitting duck… er, goose for such obscene money grabs. After all, it’s not like they’re going to abandon their brand new $5+ billion glass doughnut, The Colossal Distraction, with its so-perfect-there-was-no-time-left-for-core-products door handles.
Years ago, Steve Jobs educated a Cupertino City Councilperson on taxes:
SEE ALSO:
Apple could get hit with employer tax in Cupertino – May 21, 2018
Cupertino Barry Chang mayor: Apple ‘abuses us’ by not paying taxes – May 5, 2016
Amazon suspends construction in Seattle while the city considers a new per-employee tax – May 2, 2018
Apple again expands downtown Seattle engineering center – April 17, 2018
Apple rumored to be taking big piece of Seattle-area office market in expansion – August 12, 2016
Apple buys machine-learning startup Turi for $200 million – August 6, 2016
Apple quietly buys Seattle firm to expand cloud offerings – November 4, 2014
