内容来源：https://www.geekwire.com/2026/seattle-mayors-bye-to-those-who-leave-state-over-taxes-is-no-laughing-matter-to-some-in-tech/

内容总结：

西雅图市长一句“拜拜”激怒科技界：百万富翁要跑？随他们去！

近日，西雅图市长凯蒂·威尔逊因一段“告别”言论陷入争议。在本月初于西雅图大学举行的一场对话活动中，当被问及华盛顿州针对年收入超百万美元人群征收9.9%所得税的“富豪税”政策时，威尔逊对所谓“百万富翁将因税负外逃”的说法嗤之以鼻。

“我认为这些所谓百万富翁要离开我们州的说法，简直被过分夸大了。”威尔逊在现场边说边挥手，并笑着对台下欢呼的观众补了一句：“要是真有人走——那就，拜拜！”（相关片段可见活动视频第39分09秒）

这段视频本周在网络上重新流传，立即引发西雅图科技界的强烈反弹。许多业内人士认为，这番话折射出当地政治生态对商业领域的普遍敌意。长期扎根西雅图的投资人兼企业家克里斯·德沃尔在领英上发文直言：“这座城市彻底完蛋了。当市长似乎根本不懂所有就业和税收都来自私营企业时，把雇主赶走只会永久掏空她推行社会项目的财力。未来十年，甚至可能是永久性的衰退，我们已经逃不掉了。”

德沃尔本月早些时候曾在科技媒体GeekWire撰文，批评民主党政客将资本主义视为敌人，“推行掠夺性的税收政策，把创业财富妖魔化”。另一位西雅图投资人查尔斯·菲茨杰拉德则发出警告，认为如果商业环境持续恶化，西雅图很可能重蹈克利夫兰衰落的覆辙，并列举了写字楼空置率创纪录、州信用评级下调等指标作为佐证。

不过，并非所有人都认同这种悲观论调。AI2孵化器董事总经理雅各布·科尔克就反驳说，所谓“西雅图再征一项税就会崩溃”的论调是“不严肃的分析”，并指出该地区在AI人才、投资资本和生活品质上的深厚积累，不会因多几个百分点的税率就被动摇。

威尔逊在活动中还承认，华盛顿州的税收结构整体上仍高度累退（即中低收入者负担更重），并表示市政府正在积极探索更公平的征税方案。但她同时提醒，西雅图在税收政策上不能与贝尔维尤等周边城市差距过大，否则将损害本地的商业竞争力。

截至发稿，市长办公室尚未对GeekWire的置评请求作出回应。

中文翻译：

西雅图市长凯蒂·威尔逊近日因一句“告别”引发了些许争议。在本月早些时候于西雅图大学的一次对话中，威尔逊就华盛顿州百万富翁所谓“税收政策将迫使他们离开”的威胁发表了看法。“我认为那些声称百万富翁要离开我们州的说法，实在是太夸张了。而且——要是真有人走，那就，拜拜咯，”威尔逊边说边挥手，随后在人群的欢呼声中笑了起来。（视频中第39分09秒处可见这一幕。）这番话本周在网络上重新流传，招致了西雅图科技界部分人士的批评，他们认为这代表了该地区对商业的普遍敌意。

4月14日，威尔逊与金县行政长官吉尔迈·扎希莱一同与主持人对话，探讨他们进步主义的政治与政策方针如何塑造普吉特湾地区的未来。两人均于去年11月当选。市长被问及，她是否认为累进税——例如州议会最近通过的、对个人年应税收入超过100万美元部分征收9.9%的税——是一项“简单且前景光明的解决方案”。“作为一个长期以来一直为累进税而奋斗的人，我可以告诉你们，这并不容易，”威尔逊说。她补充道，看到所谓的百万富翁税在州议会通过，她感到“兴奋”。威尔逊承认，华盛顿州的税收结构整体上仍然高度累退，并表示她的办公室正在积极研究该市可采用的累进税方案。她指出，西雅图在地方税收灵活性上比县一级更强，但也提醒道，西雅图不能与周边地区偏离太远——她以贝尔维尤为例——否则将面临商业竞争力下降的风险。GeekWire已联系市长办公室寻求评论，如有回复我们将及时更新。

数月来，华盛顿州关于累进税的辩论一直在升温，科技界在很大程度上——尽管并非一致——对此感到担忧，认为这是一个充满敌意的政策环境。当百万富翁税还是提案时，一群人工智能研究者、创始人和投资者曾致信州长鲍勃·弗格森，敦促他暂停实施该收入税以及一项拟议中的资本利得税扩展方案，并警告这些措施将把顶尖人才和未来初创企业推离该地区。此前，一些初创企业领袖还将一项针对初创企业股权的资本利得税提案称为“灭绝级事件”，创始人们在奥林匹亚作证反对该法案。该措施最终未获通过。微软总裁布拉德·史密斯等知名人士直言不讳地批评，警告华盛顿州有将科技行业视为理所当然的风险，并敦促立法者关注经济发展——而不仅仅是税收掠夺。

威尔逊的挥手和那句“拜拜”在西雅图科技界引发了一些人的重新审视。“西雅图真是彻底完蛋了，”长期居住在西雅图的投资者兼企业家克里斯·德沃尔上周五在领英上写道。“当管理这座城市的人似乎不明白所有就业岗位和税收都来自私人雇主，而将雇主永久赶走会掏空她推行社会项目的能力时，很明显，我们即将迎来糟糕的十年，如果不是永久衰退的话。”在本月早些时候为GeekWire撰写的一篇评论文章中，德沃尔表达了对当前州及国家层面民主党人的失望，称他们正将资本主义视为敌人，“推行没收性的税收政策，将创业财富妖魔化”。另一位西雅图地区投资者查尔斯·菲茨杰拉德今年早些时候在GeekWire上警告西雅图有成为“下一个克利夫兰”的危险，称该市的成功可能会随着商业环境的恶化而迅速瓦解。上周五，菲茨杰拉德在其Platformonomics博客上发布了数条内容——包括一篇关于威尔逊言论的《纽约邮报》报道——均置于“别当克利夫兰”的标题之下。其他内容还包括一篇引用西雅图写字楼空置率创纪录的报告、该州信用评级被下调的消息等。

科技界并非所有人都认同这种担忧。AI2孵化器董事总经理雅各布·科尔克今年早些时候驳斥了他所谓的“西雅图距离因一项税单而崩溃只差一步之遥的耸人听闻的说法”，他认为，多征几个百分点的税并不足以抵消该地区深厚的人工智能人才储备、投资资本和生活质量。“我们是否应该审慎考虑税收政策？当然应该，”科尔克写道，“但那种西雅图因一项法案就会崩溃的夸张说法，并非严肃的分析。”尽管威尔逊那番挥手的“告别”引发了一些反弹，但西雅图企业家兼投资者迭戈·奥本海默在德沃尔的领英帖子下的一条评论，用一个无言的emoji表情——捂脸——概括了部分人的挫败感。

英文来源：

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson is being greeted with a bit of backlash over a recent “goodbye.”
During a conversation earlier this month at Seattle University, Wilson offered her take on the supposed threats of millionaires in Washington state who say tax policy will drive them to leave.
“I think the claims that millionaires are going to leave our state are, like, super overblown. And if — the ones that leave, like, bye,” Wilson said while offering a wave before laughing amid cheers from the crowd. (See the exchange at 39:09 in video below.)
The comments, which resurfaced online this week, have drawn criticism from some in Seattle’s tech community, who see them as emblematic of a broader hostility toward business in the region.
Wilson was joined by King County Executive Girmay Zahilay for an April 14 conversation with moderators about how their progressive approaches to politics and policies shape the future of the Puget Sound region. Both were elected in November.
The mayor was asked whether she thought progressive taxes — like the state’s recently passed 9.9% tax applied to taxable, personal annual income that exceeds $1 million — are an “easy and promising solution.”
“As someone who has been fighting for progressive taxes for a very long time, I can tell you they are not easy,” Wilson said, adding that she was “excited” to see the so-called millionaires tax pass the state Legislature.
Wilson acknowledged that Washington’s tax structure remains heavily regressive overall, and said her office is actively exploring progressive taxation options available to the city. While she noted that Seattle has more local taxing flexibility than the county, she cautioned that Seattle can’t stray too far from its neighbors — pointing to Bellevue as an example — without risking its competitiveness as a place to do business.
GeekWire reached out to the mayor’s office for comment and we’ll update if we hear back.
The debate over progressive taxation in Washington state has been building for months, with the tech community largely — though not uniformly — alarmed by what it sees as a hostile policy environment.
When the millionaires tax was still a proposal, a coalition of AI researchers, founders, and investors wrote to Gov. Bob Ferguson urging him to pause both the income tax and a proposed expansion of the capital gains tax, warning that the measures would push top talent and future startups out of the region.
Earlier, some startup leaders called a related capital gains proposal targeting startup equity an “extinction-level event,” with founders testifying in Olympia against the bill. The measure failed to pass.
Prominent voices like Microsoft President Brad Smith have been pointed in their criticism, warning that Washington risks taking its tech sector for granted and urging lawmakers to focus on economic development — not just revenue extraction.
Wilson’s wave and “bye” are drawing fresh scrutiny among some in Seattle’s tech community.
“Seattle is so f**ked,” longtime Seattle investor and entrepreneur Chris DeVore wrote on LinkedIn Friday. “When the person running the city doesn’t seem to understand that all jobs and tax revenue come from private employers, and driving employers away permanently hollows out her capacity to pay for her social programs, it’s clear that we’re in for a rough decade, if not a permanent decline.”
In an opinion piece earlier this month for GeekWire, DeVore expressed his frustration with Democrats at both the state and national level today who he said are turning capitalism into the enemy, “pursuing confiscatory tax policies that villainize entrepreneurial wealth.”
Charles Fitzgerald, another Seattle-area investor, warned earlier this year on GeekWire about the danger of Seattle becoming “the next Cleveland,” stating that the city’s success could unravel quickly in the wake of a deteriorating business environment.
On his Platformonomics blog on Friday, Fitzgerald posted several items — including a New York Post story about Wilson’s comments — under the “Don’t be Cleveland” header. Others included a report citing record office vacancy rates in Seattle, a downgrading of the state’s credit rating, and more.
Not everyone in the tech community shares the alarm. Jacob Colker, managing director at the AI2 Incubator, pushed back earlier this year on what he called a “breathless narrative” that Seattle is one tax bill away from collapse, arguing that a few points of additional taxation don’t outweigh the region’s deep bench of AI talent, investment capital, and quality of life.
“Should we be thoughtful about tax policy? Heck yeah,” Colker wrote. “But the breathless narrative that Seattle is one bill from collapse is not serious analysis.”
While Wilson’s physical goodbye wave ignited some backlash, a comment on DeVore’s LinkedIn post from Seattle entrepreneur and investor Diego Oppenheimer summed up some of the frustration with a single, wordless emoji comment — the facepalm.