Katie Wilson to Inherit Seattle’s Budget Woes
Katie Wilson may have won the mayoral election, but her challenges are just beginning. Outgoing Mayor Bruce Harrell is leaving a budget mess behind him.
Seattle City Budget
Harrell Budget Doubles Down on Police Spending
In Mayor Bruce Harrell’s 2026 budget proposal unveiled Tuesday, the Seattle Police Department was the big winner, seeing a $34.5 million increase. The mayor would use a new 0.1% “public safety” sales tax increase and a business tax overhaul to close a $122 million deficit and fund new investments.
Seattle Council Greenlights Rinck’s B&O Tax Overhaul
On Monday, the City Council voted unanimously to send the Seattle Shield Initiative to voters this November. Sponsored by Alexis Mercedes Rinck, the proposal shifts B&O tax burden away from small businesses and toward larger ones, raising an estimated $81 million annually to shore up the City budget
Rinck, Harrell Propose Progressive Business Tax Overhaul to Bolster Seattle Budget
On Wednesday, Seattle Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck unveiled a proposal overhauling the city’s Business and Occupation tax that she hopes to put before voters this November – if she can win over her colleagues. Dubbed the Seattle Shield Initiative, it would broaden the exemption for small busi
Seattle and King County Grapple with Federal Disinvestment and Threats
Seattle and King County are reeling from both immediate and anticipated impacts from the second Trump administration. Seattle Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck and King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci are leading efforts to prepare for the volatility and protect community members.
Seattle Awards $22 Million in Equitable Development Grants Aimed to Combating Displacement
After weathering a budget scare, Seattle’s Equitable Development Initiative is growing, with $22 million in new awards aimed at combating displacement and anchoring communities of color.
Seattle Hiring Small Army of Planners for Sound Transit 3 Work
A quiet change to the spending categories in Seattle’s dedicated transit funding measure mean that the City of Seattle will be able to hire dozens of staff to work on different aspects of Sound Transit planning.
Seattle Council Passes Budget Swiping Affordable Housing Funds to Boost SPD
The Sara Nelson-led Seattle City Council passed their first city budget in an 8-1 vote. It greenlit the mayor’s plan to slash investments in affordable housing and social services and trim 48 staff positions in order to boost police spending by 16% and close a large deficit without raising new taxes
Seattle Rejects Capital Gains Proposal, but Progressive Tax Time Is Nigh
Progressive challenger Alexis Mercedes Rinck’s election win could mean a 5-4 majority for a capital gains tax — or even a supermajority, if Rob “this is the right tax at the wrong time” Saka can be convinced that the time is right. Other progressive taxes are also on the table.
Sara Nelson Warns She Can Kill Any Transit Project She Wants
A budget amendment put forward by Council President Nelson asks for information on how and when the city creates priority space for buses, citing opposition to Route 40. At a meeting last week, Nelson suggested that if she had wanted to kill a controversial project she already could have done it.
Amid Budget Showdown, Advocates Mount Defense of JumpStart Housing Funds
On Tuesday, progressive advocates rallied at Seattle City Hall to make a last-ditch defense to reverse a $330 million JumpStart cut that would deplete affordable housing funding. Tuesday was the last public hearing before Council finalizes the budget next week.
Op-Ed: JumpStart Should Remain an Affordable Housing Commitment, Not a Piggybank
JumpStart investments in housing and climate investments must be preserved in future years, despite Mayor Harrell’s proposal to siphon $287 million and remove spend plan guardrails.
Harrell Proposes Deep Cuts for Tenant Assistance, Advocates Push Back
Housing advocates are pushing back after Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell proposed $1.8 million in cuts to rental assistance and tenant services next year. They hope city council will restore the funding, or even double it.
Harrell Cuts Social Safety Net to Fund 16% Boost to SPD
Mayor Bruce Harrell’s 2025 budget would cut elsewhere to fund a 16% increase to the Seattle Police Department. The cuts to affordable housing and social services could backfire, undermining public safety and homelessness response.
Harrell Officials Downplay Impact of Permitting Staff Cuts
City officials have insisted that the staff cuts for SDCI in next year’s budget will not impact permit approval times. Staff are not convinced.
Harrell Swipes Affordable Housing Dollars to Backfill Budget, Reduce Service Cuts
Under the budget for the next two years proposed by Mayor Bruce Harrell, around half of the JumpStart funding originally earmarked for affordable housing and other investments would instead fund Harrell Administration priorities.
Policy Lab: Tax the Filthy, Stinking Rich
Seattle has a $258 million budget deficit to solve. Mayor Bruce Harrell said he rejects notions of austerity. Good for him! I’m here to help. Let’s chart a way out of this crisis that doesn’t involve slashing services and laying off city workers.
Op-Ed: Councilmember Rivera Plans To Defund the Equitable Development Initiative
Councilmember Maritza Rivera aims to raid the money allocated to Seattle’s Equitable Development Initiative. Here’s what you can do to fight this budget raid.
Seattle Police Contract Passes Despite Limited Accountability Measures, Budget Hit
With a 24% raise and backpay, Seattle police officers are collectively earning an extra $96 million in compensation from the City in 2024. City leaders hope to spur hiring, but the contract did little to increase police accountability and blew a bigger hole in the City’s quarter-billion-dollar budge
Policy Lab: Will Last Progressive in Seattle Turn On the Lights
Seattle City Council President Sara Nelson celebrated a shift to the right and an end to “ideological experimentation.” But progressives are pioneering lots of innovative ideas and should be stockpiling programs for friendlier climes. What are yours?
Seattle Leaders Eye JumpStart Housing Funds to Close $230 Million Budget Hole
Mayor Harrell and the city council are contemplating budget cuts and raiding JumpStart payroll tax revenue to address a $230 million budget deficit. But nonprofit leaders are warning of the impact of reducing affordable housing funding.
$230 Million Deficit Hangs Over Annual Harrell Speech
In his state of the city speech Tuesday, Harrell eschewed new taxes and promised yet-to-be identified budget cuts. He pledged a long-delayed draft of the Seattle Comprehensive Plan and an incentive package for office-to-housing conversions will be released in March.
Op-Ed: The Seattle Police Department Has an Efficiency Problem
SPD’s refusal to offload low-priority calls is undermining its ability to solve serious crimes. Over recent decades, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) has increasingly handled fewer serious crimes less efficiently, as I’ve previously explained here. Since 1990, both the number of serious crimes handled per officer per
Video: The Urbanist Seattle City Budget Workshop
Contributing Editor Ryan Packer and reporter Amy Sundberg broke down the 2024 budget proposed by Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and set to be amended by the Seattle City Council at an online workshop on Monday. They tackled the looming budget crisis as Seattle faces a nearly quarter-billion-dollar deficit
Council Pushes Transit Ambassadors, Cafe Streets in 2024 Budget, But Not Streetcar Connector
The Seattle City Council is set to consider a slew of transportation-related amendments to Mayor Bruce Harrell’s proposed budget for 2024, in an annual ritual where councilmembers try and push their policy priorities through appropriations and vie for the opportunity to fund improvements in their own districts. Facing
Harrell’s Transportation Budget Focuses on Downtown But Leaves Out the Streetcar
Transportation was essentially a footnote this week as Mayor Bruce Harrell announced his proposed changes to Seattle’s 2024 city budget, with housing, police tech, and human service employee wages taking center stage. But the Seattle City Council will still need to grapple with a $706 million budget proposed for
Harrell’s 2024 Budget Leaves Big Questions on Safety and Looming Shortfall
Durable solutions to police accountability, public safety, drug treatment, and homelessness all remain elusive and vaguely defined. On Tuesday, Mayor Bruce Harrell released his 2024 City budget proposal and delivered a speech laying out his decisions. The 33-minute speech made clear his priorities — boosting public safety, addressing homelessness, activating
The Chamber of Commerce’s Seattle Budget Fix Is Slashing City Services and Freezing Wages
While running government like a business is a dream of chambers of commerce, businesses don’t freeze wages and spending when they need to hire and grow. The Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce has been banging the drum for austerity heading into the fall budget season. The City invited Chamber
Op-Ed: Seattle is the Capital of Toxic Frugality
Next week is standardized testing at the kiddos’ school. The normal seven-class-a-day schedule will be reorganized to allow morning and afternoon blocks long enough to take the 3 to 4 hour tests. The kids have stockpiled gum and selected small stuffed animals and stress balls to keep
The Urbanist Podcast: Debunking the JumpStart Tax Holiday with Ron Davis
In this episode, co-hosts Natalie Argerious and Ray Dubicki welcome Ron Davis to talk about a proposed JumpStart Tax Holiday in the city of Seattle. Ron last joined the pod to talk about how the city’s comprehensive planning was lacking a level of seriousness. There is a tax
City Hall Park Plans Curtailed by New Seattle Budget
The budget that Mayor Bruce Harrell signed on Thursday slimmed down two proposals that received a feted rollout at the beginning of the budget process in the face of a less-than-rosy economic picture: a larger city response to homeless encampments and the revitalization of long-shuttered City Hall
Nelson, Pedersen, and Sawant Dissent Ahead of Final Vote on Seattle Budget
The Seattle City Council has no room to spare as it approved the Seattle budget today in a 6-3 budget committee vote today. Councilmembers Sara Nelson, Alex Pedersen, and Kshama Sawant voted no. The budget goes to full council for final approval on Tuesday, and another desertion would sink
Harrell’s Anti-Graffiti Plan Sees $1.2 Million Cut But Council Leaves It Mostly Intact
Last month, Mayor Harrell unveiled his definitive anti-graffiti plan, with a focus on both graffiti removal and allowing artists to create legally. The mayor’s office estimates the price tag at around $944,000, though a close reading of their proposed budget shows it will likely be more. This
Council Returns Parking Enforcement to SPD, Abrogates 80 Vacant Cop Positions
Facing pressure from the Harrell administration, the Seattle City Council voted to move parking enforcement back to the Seattle Police Department (SPD) after a very brief sojourn in the transportation department. But not every SPD line item in the mayor’s budget was approved. In its marathon amendment vote day
Chair Mosqueda Announces ‘Delicately’ Balanced City Budget Package
Council actions rearrange Mayor’s budget proposal based on short term coverage from JumpStart tax. Seattle’s budget season is moving into its final stages as Budget Committee Chair Teresa Mosqueda published the City Council’s balancing package on Monday. The package proposes to reallocate money from Mayor Bruce Harrell’
The Urbanist Podcast: Seattle City Budget Season 2022
In this week’s episode, reporter Ray Dubicki is joined by The Urbanist’s executive director Doug Trumm to discuss allocations and adjustments as Seattle’s budget season moves into high gear. The City has about $1.7 billion to spend, and there’s no end of things folks are
Largely Status Quo Harrell Budget Proposal Puts Police First
Mayor Bruce Harrell largely presented a status quo biennium budget on Tuesday, but he is seeking to undo a few recent progressive policy wins, as he puts the Seattle Police Department (SPD) first and make cuts elsewhere. His proposal would move parking enforcement back into SPD after a brief sojourn
What Everyone Took Away from Seattle’s 2022 Budget
The Seattle City Council approved the City’s 2022 budget on Monday after a few dramatic last-minute amendment showdowns. Advocacy groups quickly set to work framing their victories and pointing to losses to be rectified in future budgets. For example, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways pointed to the tripling of the
Streetcar and 101 ‘Ghost’ Positions at SPD Survive Budget Deliberations
The Seattle Police Department (SPD) has a special privilege granted to no other department in the City. The City allocates funding to SPD for positions the agency admits it cannot fill next year. Using rosy projections for hiring and separations, Mayor Jenny Durkan hopes to boost the agency to 1,
City Council Setting the Stage for Another Streetcar Showdown
Councilmember Herbold has proposed shelving the Center City Connector streetcar project once again and diverting $2.4 million in funding to Citywide hiring incentives. The Seattle City Council released its consent package of amendments yesterday with 205 amendments included in four voting groups and will hold a final public hearing
Mosqueda’s Budget Balancing Package Advances Progressive Priorities and Bridge Maintenance Bonds
Budget Chair Teresa Mosqueda’s balancing package, released yesterday, would amend Mayor Jenny Durkan’s 2022 budget proposal to invest more in street safety, homelessness services, affordable housing, food security, and bridge maintenance. The balancing package would also cut $11 million from the Seattle Police Department (SPD), investing instead in
Issuing Bonds For Bridges is Back On the Table as Council Discusses SDOT Budget Changes
A proposal for the City of Seattle to issue bonds to pay for maintenance on several key bridges has been put back on the table by Councilmember Alex Pedersen (District 4) and will be discussed today at the city council’s select budget committee meeting. Pedersen’s proposal, which has
Morales Proposes Adding $70 Million to 2022 Housing Budget
Seattle Councilmember Tammy Morales is seeking to add $70 million in social housing funding to Mayor Jenny Durkan’s budget via two budget amendments. Meanwhile, Councilmember Kshama Sawant’s amendment would add $13 million to the city’s Green New Deal low-income home heat conversion program. The Solidarity Budget
Seattle Budget Amendments Advance Design Review Reform and Comp Plan Outreach
The Seattle City Council has prepared more than 200 amendments to Mayor Jenny Durkan’s 2022 budget proposal. Among them are amendments that would initiate work to reform design review, increase outreach staffing to address Seattle’s inequitable zoning, and rededicate JumpStart funding to its original intent when the council
Center City Streetcar Dominates at Initial Transportation Budget Discussion
A discussion on possible changes to Mayor Durkan’s proposed budget for the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) was dominated Friday by further relitigating of the case for finally connecting Seattle’s two existing streetcar lines. Effectively on pause since 2018, the Center City Connector has been in development since
Durkan’s 2022 SDOT Budget Would Revive Downtown Streetcar, But Makes Few Waves
A “cost-to-continue budget” is how Kris Castleman, the Seattle Department of Transportation’s Finance and Administration Division, described the 2022 budget proposed by Mayor Jenny Durkan as the department briefed the city council’s Select Budget Committee Friday. After the Mayor proposed an overall city budget for next
Mayor’s Budget Proposes Adding 35 Cops, Skimps Elsewhere
Mayor Jenny Durkan released her budget today and sent Deputy Mayor Shefali Ranganathan to deliver brief remarks on the proposal to the Seattle City Council. In brief, the budget funds more cops, but skimps elsewhere — casting aside lofty rhetoric about “the urgent need to scale the resources to shelter our
2022 Seattle Solidarity Budget Launches Today
With its official launch, the Seattle Solidarity Budget coalition seeks to influence decision making over the 2022 City of Seattle Budget. This weekend marks the launch of Seattle’s Solidarity Budget. Now in its second year, the coalition behind the effort is getting word out in advance of the release