The Poor In Seattle Are Taxed Like Hell

This new affordable rental building near Othello Station received 2,100 applications. It only offers 108 units.

Seattle, the capital of a very blue state, has a tax system that's hard on the poor and nice to the rich. Gene Balk of the Seattle Times puts it this way in his excellent post "Seattle taxes among nation’s kindest to the rich — and harshest to the poor": In this city, you have a right to complain about taxes, "but only if you’re near the bottom of the economic ladder. Low earners in Seattle rank among the hardest-hit by taxes in the U.S."

The two taxes that hit the poor the hardest are the property tax, which is extracted as rent, and sales tax. Put these taxes together and they say one thing: If you are poor, this is not your city.