I lived in Seattle for over 30 years and the homeless problem is nothing new. There are just more of them these days. When WA established the lottery, they said the money was going to the schools. So why new property taxes for the schools? Before I left, they raised a sin tax on drinks that contain sugar to help the community. That's your coffee, soda, Gatorade, etc., etc., etc. Pretty sure that hit Starbucks.
When I lived in Olympia, a low part of I-5 flooded backing up traffic for miles, and completely stopping the trucking industry for days. When asked what happened to the levee to fix the freeway, they said they didn't make enough, so they spent it on something else. You may think their trying to help the community, but I don't trust them. There's no one guarding the hen house.
Amazon is building all over they country, Texas, Oregon, etc. They have dozens of buildings in the Seattle city limits, and would not have moved any of their people unless they wanted to prove a point. I'll have to take your word about Amazon building new offices in the city of Seattle. I moved away because of the outrageously high taxes. Where I live now, I am paying half on almost everything.
WA does not have a state tax...unless you own a business. They call it a business and operation tax. If you sell enough books to set up a small business, be very careful. I just went through a nightmare with them - had to prove that my booksellers collected sales tax on the sale of my books, and if I could not prove it, I had to pay the sales tax myself. I got it worked out eventually, but it kept me up at night.
Good discussion, Wonder. Don't get me wrong, most other states are no better.