Mountain View approves per-employee tax on city businesses

A business license tax on the ballot in Mountain View is headed to a victory with more than 65 percent of voters approving Measure P.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, the measure has garnered 69.2 percent of the vote.

The “head tax” will impose a sliding scale cost for business licenses based on the size of each company. The tax is expected to collect almost $6 million, with nearly half of that sum coming from Google, the city’s largest company.

A company with a single proprietor would pay $75 for a license, while a company as large as Google would pay up to $584,195 with an additional $150 for each employee over 5,000.

The city says 80 percent of revenue will be directed toward transportation projects, 10 percent toward affordable housing and 10 percent for flexible community use.

San Jose, Redwood City and Sunnyvale already have a similar tax, while the hotly contested “Apple tax” in Cupertino was postponed for more planning in June.