The Seattle City Council has added an additional period of public comment Tuesday morning before it votes on a few key pieces of legislation shaping the city’s 2025 budget.
“Several amendments to the JumpStart Payroll Expense Tax legislation have been proposed since the public hearing last week,” an announcement from the budget committee reads. “In response, Chair Strauss has added an additional public comment period at the start of tomorrow’s committee meeting at 9:30 a.m. to hear from community members.”
CHS reported on the two major elements on the table for a committee vote after the additional comment period Tuesday.
Repurposing the JumpStart payroll tax has been a core debate during budget deliberations. Mayor Bruce Harrell’s proposed budget leaned heavily on the JumpStart tax and City Hall job cuts to overcome a $250 million budget deficit from growing costs related to inflation and soaring wages. The council budget committee vote could cement Harrell’s proposal with a plan that would divert revenue from the tax originally implemented to fund housing and services budgets coming out of the pandemic. The plan would also eliminate the tax’s oversight committee.
TODAY’S TOP STORIES
A coalition of community advocacy groups, unions, and service providers is asking the council to limit the diversion to only the upcoming 2025-2026 budget before reconnecting JumpStart again to its original focus once the city’s budget gaps are overcome.
Meanwhile, the budget committee will also decide on a capital gains tax proposal from North Seattle City Councilmember Cathy Moore that would implement a 2% tax on capital gains over $250,000 from the sale or exchange of assets like stocks, bonds and business interests. It would ride on top of Washington’s 7% capital gains tax. Earlier this month, state voters defeated Initiative 2109 that would have repealed the tax.
The revenue from the Moore proposal would be earmarked to fund housing and food assistance programs that are threatened by the city’s looming budget issues.
As for the spending plan, a balancing package from the council already includes a batch of community-driven line items including $125,000 for a new Capitol Hill community safety coordinator position and $150,000 to support a new street Ambassador Program on Capitol Hill from District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth.
The final days of the budget process will bring debate over the package plus amendments for final spending additions — and cuts.
The Select Budget Committee will take its final votes on the budget Tuesday followed by a final vote of the City Council on November 21st.
Visit seattle.gov for the schedule of this week’s sessions and opportunities for public comment. You can tune in to live proceedings here.
