Cupertino delays vote on employee tax for Apple, other local businesses until 2019

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The Cupertino city council has voted to delay a ballot measure seeking approval for an employee tax on some businesses in the city, particularly Apple.

Apple Park's Steve Jobs Theater


A discussion on Tuesday night turned into an impromptu 3-1 vote to push the measure off the November 2018 ballot, The Mercury News said on Wednesday. The action was reportedly prompted by "impassioned" public comment, during which multiple people argued against the current tax proposal as vague or unfair to businesses.

The measure will instead appear on a special election ballot in 2019.

The one dissenting vote on the council was cast by Barry Chang, who argued that waiting another year would worsen Cupertino's transporation situation. Apple alone has thousands of workers based in the city, many of whom have to commute by car and clog local roadways.

"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 argued. "So that's why this issue needs to be done and needs to be done now instead of waiting."

Chang had some support from fellow councilman Steven Scharf, but the latter argued that the council was moving too fast. To get a measure on the ballot in November, it would have had to agree on details of the tax by July 3. Instead that date will now be used to decide whether to propose a general or special tax in 2019.

Apple is Cupertino's most important employer, giving both politicians and voters a thin line to tread when it comes to taxes. While the city has to be able to pay for infrastructure and services, the company could potentially threaten to move some offices out of the city.

It does, however, have only so much leverage -- the company only recently made Apple Park its official corporate address, and is unlikely to abandon a campus it spent billions of dollars to build over the past several years.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 34
    maestro64maestro64 Posts: 5,043member
    They pushed it off when they saw what happen in Seattle, the council pull back their head tax, because the companies said they will drive for a recall vote for every person who voted to impose the head tax. The politicians  we more worried about their pay check than helping the homeless as they claim they were doing with the head tax.

    I worked for a start up company and the leadership was asking the local school board and township to give them a tax break to help the company grow, the town supported the idea, the school board did not, one member of the board accuse the company of bribing the school because we offer to give them free computer we were upgrading from and also would install the start of the art network since we made networking equipment, we were going to give the equipment in exchange for a delay in paying the local school tax. Our company campaigned against those who refuse to support the growth and they were all voted off the school board. in this case the school board member were most unpaid. But they lost their position.

    The best part of the store is when the company was bought out for billions of $ and the CFO walked into the school board meeting and handed the new school board a big check for the back taxes which the board agree to delay for the company. Not only did the school get computer they needed and could not afford to buy, as well and network, they also got the money later.

    These government do not understand where their money comes from and they like the hit the golden goose and break the eggs.
    edited June 2018 netmagejbdragonicoco3
  • Reply 2 of 34
    78Bandit78Bandit Posts: 238member
    A head-tax should apply to all employers equally.  There is no reason to think an Apple employee utilizes the local transportation system any more than any other company's employees.  This is just a fancy way to garner local support because it only sticks it to the big guys.  Throw a $1,000 head tax on every mom-and-pop business and see how far it goes.

    The local government better think long and hard about singling out the biggest business for special assessments.  They will find out pretty quick that Apple can simply freeze all new construction on their facilities and push somewhere like North Carolina where the property is much cheaper and taxes are lower.  Cupertino got where it is because of big tech, they better at least play fair in trying to tax them.
    racerhomie3netmagejbdragon
  • Reply 3 of 34
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    I guess Cupertino is running out of other people’s money and decided to bleed Apple some more. The company started out there, put Cupertino on the map, put $Millions in the city’s coffers over the years, and it isn’t good enough. Gotta have more. That’s the problem with governments. Their thirst for money is insatiable.
    spacekidnetmageshaminojbdragonicoco3tallest skilwatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 34
    Luckily the entire Apple campus can fly away if needed. #ufo 
    huggyfgchasmSpamSandwichlkruppicoco3watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 34

    Cupertino should look at Seattle. The Socialists wanted a head tax of $500 a year. Amazon workers and others, including Dick's Burgers started a petiole. They had enough signatures to start an initiative, so the City backed off for now. They wanted to help and house the “Homeless!”

    spacekidracerhomie3shaminojbdragonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 34
    nunzynunzy Posts: 662member
     If Cupertino keeps pushing like this they will get Appled. They really have to be careful. They don't want to piss off a sleeping giant.
    edited June 2018
  • Reply 7 of 34
    foggyhillfoggyhill Posts: 4,767member
    Only a fraction of apples people are in the campus, they simply can decide to go to the myriad of other communities all around. 
  • Reply 8 of 34
    chasmchasm Posts: 3,275member
    Apple is not afraid to help support the costs of running Cupertino, but the company may come out against this head tax depending on how it is implemented. As noted in the article, the details hadn’t been worked out and would have had to have been done by July 3 in order to make it onto the November ballot, so it makes sene to push it off a year.

    It seems obvious to me that Apple will probably want (more than a tax proposal, anyway) to help ease Cupertino’s transportation issues with the aid of the self-driving/enhanced HUD/navigation work they are doing presently for automobiles, trams, etc. In a year or three, this issue might be largely moot.
  • Reply 9 of 34
    spice-boyspice-boy Posts: 1,450member
    I just don't understand you people. Apple is the wealthiest company in the world yet you are all fighting to save it from having to pay taxes in a city it has prospered in for decades. None of you live in Cupertino is my guess so you probably don't have an accurate grasp of what Is going on yet if a local government decides to tax Apple to help it cope with the cities transit problems all of you defend Apple regardless. I live in NYC and I pay a transit tax although I am self employed with no employees. I gladly pay it each year because our transit system is underfunded by state and local government and is falling apart due to the transit authorities spending money on info kiosk with large screens, and wifi while ignoring maintenance and systems which keep the trains actually running on time. Don't weep for Apple when it's home city ask for it to contribute more because Apple can afford it and it is morally obligated to contribute to a city which has been part of its success. 
  • Reply 10 of 34
    spice-boyspice-boy Posts: 1,450member
    nunzy said:
     If Cupertino keeps pushing like this they will get Appled. They really have to be careful. They don't want to piss off a sleeping giant.
    Sure, don't wake the sleeping giant or it will take its bat and ball and go play in another neighborhood. Wonder what they will do with the spaceship when they pack up and move?
    nunzy
  • Reply 11 of 34
    spice-boyspice-boy Posts: 1,450member

    huggyfg said:

    Cupertino should look at Seattle. The Socialists wanted a head tax of $500 a year. Amazon workers and others, including Dick's Burgers started a petiole. They had enough signatures to start an initiative, so the City backed off for now. They wanted to help and house the “Homeless!”

    I've been "homeless" as you scoffed, it's not fun. Count you blessings and don't look down on those that are not as fortunate. 
    rotateleftbyte
  • Reply 12 of 34
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    Apple has a lot of engineering and design talent. If there's a transportation problem in the city why not ask Apple to help with it directly instead of taxing them.
  • Reply 13 of 34
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Socialism must be beaten back everywhere and everytime it rears its ugly head.
    netmage
  • Reply 14 of 34
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    spice-boy said:
    I just don't understand you people. Apple is the wealthiest company in the world yet you are all fighting to save it from having to pay taxes in a city it has prospered in for decades. None of you live in Cupertino is my guess so you probably don't have an accurate grasp of what Is going on yet if a local government decides to tax Apple to help it cope with the cities transit problems all of you defend Apple regardless. I live in NYC and I pay a transit tax although I am self employed with no employees. I gladly pay it each year because our transit system is underfunded by state and local government and is falling apart due to the transit authorities spending money on info kiosk with large screens, and wifi while ignoring maintenance and systems which keep the trains actually running on time. Don't weep for Apple when it's home city ask for it to contribute more because Apple can afford it and it is morally obligated to contribute to a city which has been part of its success. 
    Apple has not prospered because of Cupertino. Cupertino has prospered because of Apple.
    netmageshaminoicoco3tallest skilwatto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 34
    netmagenetmage Posts: 314member
    spice-boy said:

    huggyfg said:

    They wanted to help and house the “Homeless!”

    I've been "homeless" as you scoffed, it's not fun. Count you blessings and don't look down on those that are not as fortunate. 
    I don't think the homeless are being scoffed at but rather the idea the politicians true motivations for getting control of more money is to help the homeless.
    SpamSandwichwatto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 34
    shaminoshamino Posts: 527member
    The ugly truth everybody wants to ignore is that these big companies already pay tons of taxes.

    Apple owns huge tracts of land and is certainly paying massive property taxes on it.  They pay corporate income taxes.  Their employees all pay individual income taxes and sales taxes.

    Plus they are employing thousands of people who would otherwise be working elsewhere or would be working for a lower wage (and therefore paying lower taxes).

    But all that money isn't enough.  Because every big corporation is a bottomless pit of money that government can continue to demand without consequences.

    Well the reality is that no person or corporation can be abused forever.  Sooner or later they will move elsewhere, just like the millions of people (and thousands of businesses) that have already fled California.  Even Apple will move elsewhere if the abuse gets to be too much (which is almost certainly one reason why they are looking to set up a 20,000 employee R&D campus in North Carolina).
    SpamSandwichwatto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 34
    jbdragonjbdragon Posts: 2,305member
    This is getting ridiculous. There's Government trying to find new ways to flat out STEAL people's money!!! Oh look, they are trying to do it, would should to!!! The simple fact is Apple is paying millions in taxes to them with all the buildings they have and are using in that city.

    I said Apple was dumb to build their new UFO in that city, let along in CA. This is a expensive growing socialist turning state. High, ever growing Taxes. Because it's never enough. Now they want to tax people for having a job. That's exactly what this is. It's beyond ridiculous!!!

    Besides all the money Apple is paying out in taxes. Property values and Property taxes have gone UP. That's even more money. It's easy to waste other people's money and then stick your hands into people's pockets to take more. I think anyone who throws out this idea as something that should be done should be thrown out of office as fast as possible!!!!
    edited June 2018 SpamSandwichwatto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 34
    icoco3icoco3 Posts: 1,474member
    Interesting timing as the new campus is about to complete.  Had they done this before Apple started building, they may have gone elsewhere.  They could just start their own city somewhere...Cupertino is...because Apple is.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 34
    I think most people making comments are forgetting three things:

    A. Corporate taxes are at all-time lows, not all-time highs.

    B. Corporations just got an overly generous tax cut at the federal level.

    C. Infrastructure spending stimulates the economy by putting more money in circulation. Massive cash stockpiles do not put anything into circulation. 


  • Reply 20 of 34
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    I think most people making comments are forgetting three things:

    A. Corporate taxes are at all-time lows, not all-time highs.

    B. Corporations just got an overly generous tax cut at the federal level.

    C. Infrastructure spending stimulates the economy by putting more money in circulation. Massive cash stockpiles do not put anything into circulation. 


    It’s, Not. Your. Money. 
    icoco3asciiwatto_cobrashamino
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