FILE - In this May 14, 2018 file photo, members of the public look on at a Seattle City Council before the council voted to approve a tax on large businesses such as Amazon and Starbucks to fight homelessness in Seattl...

SEATTLE (AP) - Angry people at a Seattle City Council meeting shouted for more time to discuss a vote Tuesday on repealing a tax on large businesses like Amazon that aimed to raise money to fight a homelessness crisis. But Councilwoman Lisa Herbold said she was reluctantly voting for repeal rather than drag the city through a protracted political fight she called "not winnable at this particular time." Amazon.com (AMZN.O), the city’s largest employer, was at the forefront of a coalition of businesses running a well-financed campaign to place a repeal referendum on the ballot for the November elections. The tax on the city’s largest employers is supposed to take effect in 2019 and collect about $47 million per year for five years, to fund low-income housing and homeless services.
Seattle's city council votes 7–2 to repeal a controversial employer head tax, which was approved a month earlier.