Amazon has halted construction planning on a new high-rise building near its headquarters while it awaits the outcome of a Seattle city proposal to tax worker hours.
FILE - In this Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017, file photo, large spheres take shape in front of an existing Amazon building, behind, as new construction continues across the street in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
The Seattle City Council is considering a "head tax" on high-grossing businesses to raise about $75 million a year for affordable housing and homelessness services.
Supporters say businesses that have benefited most from Seattle's economic boom should help solve urgent problems that have come with it, such as soaring rents and a spike in people living on the streets.
Amazon, which employs more than 45,000 workers in Seattle, is estimated to pay more than $20 million under the proposal. The employee-hours tax would apply to companies with gross annual income of more than $20 million, which would apply to about 585 businesses.
Amazon vice president Drew Herdener said in a statement Wednesday that the Seattle-based online retailer has put on hold construction planning for a 17-story tower, pending a council vote on the tax. In addition, he said the company is evaluating options to sublease all space it recently leased in another downtown skyscraper under construction.
The two office spaces would accommodate about 7,000 new Amazon jobs in more than 1.1 million square feet (0.1 million sq. meters) of office space. The Seattle Times first reported the news. Amazon also recently announced plans to add thousands of workers in Boston and Vancouver, British Columbia.
In Seattle, the proposed head tax is roughly 26 cents per employee hour, or roughly $540 a year per worker. By 2021, the tax would switch to a .07 percent tax on the business payroll.
At a council committee meeting Wednesday, Councilmember Kshama Sawant said it's critical that "we not accept this extortion."
She called the tax "pocket change for these businesses" and said "Amazon is perfectly capable of paying that."
Last month, Amazon reported that its first-quarter profit more than doubled from a year ago, fueled by the growth of online shopping and the cloud-computing service it provides to businesses and government agencies. Overall revenue jumped 43 percent to $51 billion.
The company earned $1.63 billion in the three months ending March 31. It's the second time Amazon's quarterly profit has topped $1 billion. In the previous quarter, which included the busy holiday shopping season, it had a profit of more than $1.8 billion.
Many social service workers and others supported the tax Wednesday, saying the city needs to add affordable housing and address the wealth disparity.
Councilmember Lorena Gonzalez, a co-sponsor of the tax measure, tweeted her support Wednesday morning saying, "To address the massive humanitarian crisis our city is experiencing, we MUST create sustainable revenue sources to fund effective solutions that will get our Seattle residents off the streets."
Businesses have been pushing back on the idea since it first surfaced last year. The City Council narrowly rejected a smaller tax proposal last fall.
"Today's announcement shows that Seattle cannot take its economic prosperity for granted," Marilyn Strickland, president of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement Wednesday.
"The City of Seattle has abundant tax resources today because many locally based businesses have chosen to grow here. That's why we urge the City Council to prioritize those resources — including over $700 million in taxes paid by business each year — before pursuing new revenue, and work with regional partners to develop a coordinated plan that will significantly reduce homelessness."
Other businesses said that they operate on tight margins of 1 percent or so and won't be able to raise prices on consumers.
"I'm deeply concerned about the impact this decision will have on a large range of jobs," Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said in a statement Wednesday.
Durkan said the city must urgently address homelessness and the affordability crisis. She said she'll bring together councilmembers and other leaders to find common ground.
ATLANTA (AP) — Lawyers for reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who are in prison after being convicted on federal charges of bank fraud and tax evasion, on Friday challenged aspects of their convictions and sentences in a federal appeals court.
The Chrisleys rose to fame with their show “Chrisley Knows Best,” which chronicled the exploits of their tight-knit family. But prosecutors said they engaged in an extensive bank fraud scheme and hid their earnings from tax authorities while showcasing their extravagant lifestyle.
Peter Tarantino, an accountant they hired, also is serving time in prison. He wants his conviction thrown out and to be granted a new trial.
A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta on Friday heard arguments from lawyers for the three.
Two of the Chrisleys' children, Savannah and Chase, were joined by more than a dozen supporters in the gallery of the courtroom. Savannah Chrisley spoke to reporters after the hearing, saying she talked to her parents Thursday night and that they are “doing as best as they can” and hope that Friday's hearing is a step toward getting them home.
“We have all come together and we are closer than ever,” she said of her family.
The Chrisleys initially were charged in August 2019. In June 2022, a jury found them guilty of conspiring to defraud community banks out of more than $30 million in fraudulent loans. They also were found guilty of tax evasion and conspiring to defraud the IRS, and Julie Chrisley was convicted of wire fraud and obstruction of justice.
Todd Chrisley, 56, is at a minimum security federal prison camp in Pensacola, Florida, with a release date in October 2032, while Julie Chrisley, 51, is at a facility in Lexington, Kentucky, and is due for release in July 2028, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.
Tarantino, 61, was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the United States and willfully filing false tax returns. He is being held in a minimum security federal prison camp in Montgomery, Alabama, with a release date in September of next year.
Prosecutors have said the Chrisleys walked away from their responsibility to repay loans when Todd Chrisley declared bankruptcy. While in bankruptcy, they started their reality show and “flaunted their wealth and lifestyle to the American public,” and then hid the millions they made from the show from the IRS, prosecutors have said.
Alex Little, a lawyer for the Chrisleys, argued that an IRS officer lied on the stand about the couple still owing taxes at the time of trial when she knew no taxes were due and that prosecutors knowingly presented and failed to correct that false testimony.
“They relied on information they knew to be incorrect,” Little said.
Prosecutor Annalise Peters rejected that assertion, saying that when the IRS officer testified, she and prosecutors were unaware of some tax payments the Chrisleys had made. But she said the couple did still owe some taxes at the time.
Circuit Judge Robin Rosenbaum, who grilled both sides during the hearing, seemed skeptical of the idea that prosecutors had conspired with an IRS officer to present false information, saying evidence the defense presented in a brief “seemed like pure speculation.”
The Chrisleys' lawyers also argue that the trial judge was wrong to allow certain evidence without requiring prosecutors to show it wasn't obtained during an unlawful search. And they argue prosecutors failed to provide enough evidence to convict the Chrisleys of tax evasion and conspiracy, showing only that they used a common entertainment industry practice to receive acting income.
They also argue prosecutors failed to produce any evidence that Julie Chrisley participated in bank fraud. They say the judge erred by ordering restitution and forfeiture of assets.
Todd Chrisley should be acquitted on the tax evasion and conspiracy counts and given a new trial on the remaining counts, his lawyers argue. Alternatively, the appeals court should send the case back to the trial court to hold a hearing on his claims that the IRS officer lied and evidence was improperly admitted.
Julie Chrisley should be acquitted on the five bank fraud charges, her lawyers argue. They also say her sentence on the remaining charges, including $17.2 million in restitution that she and her husband were ordered to pay, should be wiped away and she should be resentenced on those counts.
Prosecutors argue there was sufficient evidence at trial to support the charges and jury verdicts, and that the evidence was properly obtained and admitted. Peters argued that there was also no evidence that the IRS officer's testimony affected the jury's verdict.
Even if the Chrisleys eventually paid what they owed, “later actions do not nullify the crime,” Peters said.
Don Samuel, a lawyer for Tarantino, argued that his client was harmed by being tried with the Chrisleys and he urged the court to reverse Tarantino’s conviction and return his case to the lower court for a new trial.
While Tarantino did certain things that ended up facilitating the Chrisleys' fraudulent conduct, there was no evidence he did anything intentionally to facilitate that conduct, Samuel said. The scope of the charges against the Chrisleys “dwarfed the evidence” against Tarantino and prejudiced the jury against him, Samuel said.
Peters said there was substantial evidence demonstrating Tarantino's personal involvement and he can't demonstrate actual, compelling evidence that he was harmed by being tried along with the Chrisleys.
Associated Press writer Kenya Hunter contributed to this report.
FILE - Todd Chrisley, left, and his wife, Julie Chrisley, pose for photos at the 52nd annual Academy of Country Music Awards on April 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. Todd and Julie Chrisley, who are in prison after being convicted on federal charges of bank fraud and tax evasion, are challenging aspects of their convictions and sentences in a federal appeals court.(Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
