The employee head tax Cupertino has been considering for big companies like Apple isn’t happening this year. The city council decided to postpone the referendum for a year, which will save big companies millions of dollars in the iterim.
Cupertino has been looking into a new tax on companies based on how many employees work in the city. The referendum was originally targeted to appear on this November’s ballot.
The San Francisco Chronicle says Apple has over 25,000 employees in the Bay Area. Silicon Valley Business Journal puts that figure at 26,000 and says about half are in Cupertino.
Assuming the SVBJ numbers are correct, Apple’s business tax will jump from US$17,000 up over $30 million. That’s a pretty significant jump, and one Apple would likely want to avoid if it can.
That isn’t to say Apple has been lobbying to block the tax. Right now it looks like the city decided to postpone the vote to sort out details.
For now, it looks like Apple and the other big companies in Cupertino don’t have to start writing the city bigger checks.