
MtnView controversial head tax, meant to alleviate Google's impact now in effect - jelliclesfarm
https://abc7news.com/politics/controversial-head-tax-goes-into-effect-in-mountain-view/5805822/
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RNeff
They should build 25,000 or more apartments at Moffett Field / NASA Ames. Use
the runways as streets, build 10-15 story buildings with retail at the base.
Sheath Hanger One with transparent solar panels. Then many can walk / bike /
scooter northwest to Google land over a new pedestrian bridge, or southeast to
Amazon / Yahoo etc. The VTA light rail runs alongside. The proposed CA law
wants to force high density housing along transit corridors. The empty fields
at Moffett are next to a transit corridor. Focus on making it easy for people
get to work quickly without a car. Make it easy for people to live without a
car.

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jelliclesfarm
That sounds awful. A city is more than homes for people who work and life is
more than jobs and work.

We don’t exist to be wage slaves. Shouldn’t there be a balance?

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planetzero
When Google (or any company) hires someone to work for them, the state/city
immediately starts to see more tax money coming in (payroll taxes, consumption
taxes, if they buy a home, property taxes).

There will definitely be a boost in revenue in the beginning, but the end
result will be less companies willingly expanding here and a declining of tax
revenue, not an increase.

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jelliclesfarm
This article has more quotes and comments.

My level of trust in California’s leadership and govt at Sacramento is eroding
every day.

[https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2020/01/02/mountain...](https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2020/01/02/mountain-
view-google-head-tax.html)

[..] The "head tax" that Siegel initiated a few years ago, as one possible
solution, was overwhelming passed by voters in 2018.

Beginning Jan. 1, companies from mom-and-pop shops to Google, will be charged
a tax, based on the number of employees they have working in the city and the
revenue will fund infrastructure projects.

"Right now, Mountain View's budget is balanced," Siegal said. "The difficulty
is investing in infrastructure. And that's where we are targeting this."

Siegel says the city met with companies of all sizes while crafting the
legislation. The end result is that it is a progressive tax and small
companies may only have to pay a few hundred dollars.

The tax is expected to generate more than $6 million annually -- about half
coming just from Google.

"You can't build a transit line based on donations," said Sigel. "You need
regular money, so over a period of years, it's actually going to generate a
lot of money that we can invest in our infrastructure." But regional leaders
have raised concerns. They are critical of the fact that it is not a business
tax, but a general tax, which means the city could spend the money on other
projects.[..]

