Apple has had to defend its tax practices all over the place — from Washington to Europe — throughout the years. Now it’s facing accusations of not paying enough taxes in its own backyard.
Barry Chang, mayor of Cupertino, home to Apple’s headquarters, tells the Guardian: “Apple is not willing to pay a dime. They’re making profit, and they should share the responsibility for our city, but they won’t. They abuse us.”
The city of about 60,000 residents — home to the world’s most valuable company, which happens to be building a massive new spaceship-like campus — is grappling with increased traffic and noise.
Chang, who’s the target of a recall effort, believes Apple should pitch in to ease Cupertino’s growing pains. He wants the company to give $100 million to help improve the city’s infrastructure. But he can’t get other council members to agree to put forth the proposal.
“Apple is such a big company here,” Chang told the Guardian. “The council members don’t want to offend them. Apple talks to them, and they won’t vote against Apple. This is the fact.”
Chang also told the Guardian that Apple security once escorted him off company grounds when he tried to go there to arrange a meeting about traffic congestion in Cupertino.
A group that’s against more development in Cupertino has started an effort to recall Chang, who has been a councilman since 2009 and mayor since December 2015. Chang, who’s also running for state assembly, on his website lists as one of his accomplishments the negotiations to help bring Apple’s new campus to the city.
According to the Cupertino Courier, the effort to recall Chang is the result of the “anger and frustration permeating Cupertino’s political scene for more than a year now.” The group accuses the mayor of “abusive and dishonest behavior.”
But back to Apple. Some of the scrutiny the company has received over taxes: In 2013, Apple CEO Tim Cook went to Washington and was grilled by Congress over the company’s offshoring of profit to avoid paying taxes in the United States. Last year, Cook said on “60 Minutes” that U.S. tax laws need to be updated so more companies will bring their profits back from overseas. Also last year, the Mercury News’ Michelle Quinn found that Apple is among the companies that fight county tax assessments the hardest. Most recently, Apple has faced either tax action or scrutiny in Italy and elsewhere in Europe.
Apple has not responded to SiliconBeat’s email for comment. But the company told Fortune that it’s Cupertino’s biggest taxpayer and pays millions of dollars in taxes each year to the city.
Above: An artist’s rendering of Apple’s Campus 2 project in Cupertino. (Courtesy City of Cupertino)
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