MtnView controversial head tax, meant to alleviate Google's impact now in effect

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.

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.

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...

[..] 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.[..]