If the full council votes on the measure as it’s currently written, Mayor Jenny Durkan said she would not support it, signaling a veto.

The approval of the tax — $500 per employee for companies with revenue over $20 million a year — came despite a last-minute attempt by Durkan and four city council members, Sally Bagshaw, Debora Juarez, Bruce Harrell and Rob Johnson, to offer a compromise that halved the proposed tax and included a sunset clause after five years.

But that compromise, as its supporters called it, failed to sway any of the five council members who favored the higher tax. Durkan wanted to steer the bulk of money raised toward paying for emergency solutions, like shelter beds and garbage cleanup. Her proposal projected creating only 250 new units of affordable housing over the next five years — a fraction of the 1,700 affordable housing units the $75 million tax measure proposes.

“An additional 50 housing units a year, just to me, falls woefully short of what we need as a community,” said Councilmember Mike O’Brien, one of the four original sponsors of the $75 million proposal. “We need significantly more housing and I don’t think this gets us there.”

When the council rejected Durkan’s option and approved the original proposal, the pro-tax crowd that filled the council chambers Friday was elated. “We’ve got to have as much money as we can get because there’s too much need to ignore,” said Katelyn Morgaine, a casework with the Downtown Emergency Service Center.

But the celebration of the tax’s approval was short-lived. The five “yay” votes are not enough to override a mayoral veto.

In a statement Friday, Durkan forecast that she would indeed veto the measure unless the council could offer something different. “Unfortunately, the bill that passed out of committee hurts workers by stopping these good jobs, so I cannot support it,” she said.

If she does veto the $75 million tax proposal, the council will either need to return to the negotiating table or move forward without any new tax.

At stake in the debate is a homelessness and housing crisis that is out of control. At last count, there were 11,600 people on the streets or in shelters. A recent report from McKinsey consulting estimated the county would need $400 million a year and an extra 14,000 affordable units to ease the pressure.

Speaking before the council, Michael Ramos, Executive Director of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, said the council should reject the "false choice between wealth and justice" and approve the tax. "Be not afraid," he told the council. "Stand up for our neighbors in need."

But others feared the higher tax would, in fact, hurt jobs. "People are building here and we’re seeing an uptick in our membership in middle class," said Monty Anderson, Executive Secretary of Seattle Building Trade. "Don't take that away from us." Anderson supported Durkan's proposal.

Friday’s committee meeting unfolded in fits and starts, with council members searching for, but struggling to find, a sweet spot that at least six out of the nine council members could support. Complicating the process was the speed with which the new proposals and amendments were introduced.

Councilmember Lorena González, a supporter of the original bill, complained at one point that she had only just received the mayor’s option. “I am just absorbing the counterproposal, this amendment, for the first time,” she said while reading a piece of paper in front of her.