Apple sends a letter on eve of tax decision
When he was Cupertino mayor, Barry Chang said he was turned away from Apple’s headquarters because he didn’t have an appointment.
Now, he and others on the City Council may have a little more clout.
On Monday, the council received a letter from Apple vice president Kristina Raspe touting the company’s investments in the city, including sidewalk and crosswalk improvements, and a commitment that Apple would continue to work with Cupertino and other regional partners to improve transportation. The letter came on the eve of a council vote on whether to put on the ballot a measure that would tax large employers based on their number of employees. The money would go toward efforts such as reducing traffic congestion.
Cupertino on Tuesday night will consider raising up to $10 million through the proposed tax. In one model under consideration, the city could charge $425 per employee for companies with at least 5,000 people. Apple is the city’s largest employer; it built its grand new campus, Apple Park, for 13,000 employees.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Chang, no longer mayor but still a member of the council, had pushed unsuccessfully in 2016 to charge Apple and other large businesses $1,000 per employee. He says he’s
still inclined to push forward with the tax. During the day, there are 180,000 people in Cupertino, compared to roughly 60,000 at night, he said.
Employers “need to pick up their fair share,” Chang said.
If Cupertino’s council votes to put the tax on the ballot, it would follow Mountain View, where residents will vote on a similar tax in November. Under that measure, Mountain View’s largest employer, Google, could be taxed $3.3 million.
“When the economy starts to cool off, these types of job taxes will be a big disincentive to employers,” said Matt Regan, a senior vice president of public policy at the Bay Area Council, which counts Apple and Google as members and opposes per-employee taxes.
Apple did not mention the employer tax in its letter. But the company asserted that it has contributed more than $70 million in “public benefits” in relation to the building of its new headquarters campus, called Apple Park. It funded sidewalk and crosswalk improvements on Bubb Road and built a visitor center and Apple Store near its campus after receiving input from the community, the company said.
“When deciding where to build our new headquarters, we had many options, but worked hard to secure enough land to build in Cupertino,” Raspe wrote.
Raspe said Apple has worked to reduce its traffic, with more than 25 percent of employees using “alternate transportation options.” In her letter, she said that Apple is committed to working with the city and other regional partners to look for transportation solutions in areas such as Highway 85 and Stevens Creek Boulevard.
“For Cupertino and Apple to thrive we need to partner on both longterm and short-term solutions that will move our residents and employees more efficiently and effectively,” Raspe wrote.
Still, Chang says he would like to see more specifics on which projects the iPhone maker wants to tackle regarding transportation, and deadlines for those projects.
“It’s good that Apple is willing to work together, but it’s not specific (enough),” Chang said.