By Joe Nguyễn, President and CEO of the Seattle Metro Chamber
You can support affordable housing, strong public services and a safety net, and still want Seattle’s businesses to succeed.
In fact, you should.
As Mayor Katie Wilson releases her proposed budget and the City Council begins deliberations, Seattle needs to move past the idea that progressive values and economic growth are opposing goals. We need both.
That means caring about how we pay for them.
Before we get lost in arguments about what to fund, what to cut and which taxes to raise, we need to remember where the revenue comes from.
A 2023 ECONorthwest analysis of city and state data estimated that businesses paid roughly two-thirds of Seattle’s city taxes. That includes business taxes and their share of property, sales and other taxes. The employer community already helps pay for much of the city we depend on.
Since then, we have asked fewer companies to shoulder more of that responsibility.
When city forecasters evaluated last year’s business and occupation tax changes, they projected the number of businesses paying would fall from more than 22,000 to about 5,400. The independent economic report released by Mayor Wilson’s office this month puts the expected number below 5,000.
Meanwhile, just 10 companies paid nearly three-quarters of Seattle’s payroll expense tax in 2025. The report warns that the social housing tax is likely even more concentrated.
We have put more of Seattle’s promises on fewer shoulders. The more we depend on a handful of employers to fund our future, the more keeping them here and helping them grow becomes everyone’s business.
Their jobs help families pay rent, buy groceries, and build a future. Their workers support neighborhood restaurants, shops, and services. Even if you never work for one of these organizations, the taxes they pay help fund the city we live in.
When jobs go elsewhere, Seattle loses more than paychecks. It loses customers, investment, and money for public services.
Keeping that opportunity here takes more than asking companies to stay. It takes making Seattle a place where their employees and customers want to be.
That is where public safety, affordability, and economic development meet.
A worker should feel safe walking to the bus after a late shift. A shop owner should be able to welcome customers without worrying about repeated break-ins. A family should be able to afford a home near work and childcare.
Those are basic expectations for a good life. They are also conditions for a thriving economy. Meeting them helps keep people and businesses here; their success, in turn, helps fund the services that make Seattle work.
I believe residents understand this better than our political debates suggest. Wanting effective government, safe neighborhoods, and successful businesses does not make someone less progressive. It makes them practical.
The city budget should reflect that common sense. Protect public safety, help build more housing, make it easier to open and grow a business, and demand results from the money we already spend.
I appreciate Mayor Wilson’s focus on economic development and public safety. The budget is where those priorities become real.
Businesses have a responsibility to contribute, and they are. City leaders now have a responsibility to make Seattle a place where businesses and workers can succeed.
Wherever you stand on taxes or economic development, we cannot fund progressive values from an empty treasury. If we want Seattle to keep its promises, we have to help its economy thrive.
Seattle’s progressive values need businesses to succeed | The Seattle Times
Joe Nguyễn, President and CEO of the Seattle Metro Chamber, leads the region’s largest business advocacy organization with 2,600 members representing 750,000 employees.