Tag Archives: budget

City-backed cleaning crew offers proof of concept for Pike/Pine Business Improvement Area

Posted on by
23

The council president and the Pike/Pine clean-up crew (Image: @cmjoyhollings)

A city-funded street cleaning pilot across Pike/Pine is providing data and serving as a proof of concept for organizers working to establish a dedicated Business Improvement Area.

District 3 Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth praised the work of Seattle Surface Cleaners earlier this month, writing that the crew’s morning pressure washing and litter sweeps are an “investment focused on keeping Capitol Hill cleaner and improving the neighborhood.”

The pilot came about through a $300,000 citywide cleaning amendment sponsored last eyar by Councilmember Dan Strauss which allocated $100,000 each to Capitol Hill, Ballard, and the University District.

Alex Altshuler, Hollingsworth’s chief of staff, said that the cleaning funds are designed to work alongside a separate $50,000 budget addition intended to be complementary to the cleaning funds to “aid in the establishment of a BIA,” saying the program was structured as a “proof of concept” for corridor maintenance. Continue reading →

Why Zahilay’s $746M King County budget invests while Seattle cuts

Posted on by
Reply

Zahilay’s proposal includes “$100 million in conservation funding to protect 1,500 acres of land, increasing access to urban greenspace, restoring habitat, and protecting forestland and farmland for future generations” (Image: King County)

Why does Executive Girmay Zahilay’s 2026-2027 budget proposal for King County lack the urgency of the spending plan from Mayor Katie Wilson? Timing and accounting. While Seattle faces an immediate shortfall, King County is planning ahead for a deficit two years away.

Zahilay has transmitted a $746 million mid-cycle supplemental budget to adjust the county’s existing 2026–2027 package. Because King County’s projected $120 million shortfall falls in the 2028–2029 biennium, the executive has time his Seattle counterpart does not. Continue reading →

Here are your chances to speak up on the mayor’s proposal to overcome Seattle’s $175M deficit

Posted on by
13

The Seattle City Council has launched its review of Mayor Katie Wilson’s proposed $9.1 billion 2027–2028 budget, scheduling multiple hearings and public comment opportunities over the next two months before adopting a final plan.

Councilmember Dan Strauss, chair of the Select Budget Committee, emphasized community participation as the council evaluates funding priorities. Residents can weigh in during six regular comment sessions and two dedicated public hearings featuring both remote and in-person testimony. Continue reading →

Wilson budget plan wipes out Seattle’s $175M deficit — without new ‘progressive revenue’

Posted on by
27


Mayor Katie Wilson outlined a city budget Tuesday to close an inherited $175 million deficit without tax increases or withdrawals from city reserves as Seattle’s fiscal plans have surpassed the $9 billion mark.

“We cannot keep lurching from shortfall to shortfall year after year,” Wilson said in her address at the Seattle Central Library unveiling her 2027-2028 budget proposal. “We cannot keep kicking the can down the road, because there is no more road.”

The Seattle City Council will now pick up and shape the edges of the mayor’s proposed $9.15 billion budget for 2027 and $9.49 billion for 2028.

Seattle’s $175 million General Fund shortfall stems from years of spending outrunning revenue growth, worsened by pandemic economic shifts. Continue reading →

Wilson taps Seattle CARE Department as command center in new gun violence plan

Posted on by
18

Police place evidence markers after a July shootout on 11th Ave that injured bystanders caught in the crossfire

Seattle’s mayor has unveiled her budget plan to address shootings in the city that would make the CARE Department the central command center for gun violence reduction, focusing $13 million in spending on the city’s emergency response system and human services to power a new approach that integrates Seattle’s 9-1-1 resources with community responses and intervention teams.

Mayor Katie Wilson unveiled her administration’s gun violence reduction plan this week designating the Community Assisted Response and Engagement Department as a new central command center to take on the public safety priority.

The goal, Wilson says, is for Seattle City Hall to take “faster action when shootings occur.” The result is a possible new direction for the city that would focus new energy — and spending — on community public safety and intervention resources at CARE and not with traditional policing at the Seattle Police Department.

“Together, these efforts aim to give the city stronger regulatory authority, reinforce youth focused safety programs, and improve protections for neighborhoods experiencing persistent harm,” the plan reads. Continue reading →

Wilson slows homelessness plan including shelter goals in roll-out of 2027 budget proposal

Posted on by
34

Belmont Village opened on Capitol Hill this summer

Mayor Katie Wilson is adjusting her homelessness plan, stretching out the timeline, funding mechanisms, and scope to bring more unhoused people indoors while managing an inherited $175 million budget deficit.

Saying her updated plan “doesn’t promise quick fixes that paper over real problems,” Wilson said this week the changes are part of her proposed budget that will be released next Tuesday, the first budget under the Wilson administration.

While Wilson’s core goals remain in place including the establishment of approximately 1,000 emergency shelter spaces paired with wraparound services, budget realities are going to slow things down. In March, the administration framed the delivery of 1,000 shelter units as a single-year objective for 2026. The September update extends that goal through the end of 2027, scheduling 960 total beds to serve an estimated 1,750 people annually across facilities established in 2026 and eight sites slated for 2027. Continue reading →

Seattle Council eyes mid-year budget adjustments including universal school meals, higher cop wages, and repurposing unused crime camera money for ‘Community Violence Interruption Ambassadors’

Posted on by
1

The Seattle City Council’s finance committee is spending part of its Tuesday morning session pounding out details of the 2026 Mid-Year Supplemental Budget.

The annual effort adjusts existing city budget allocations across multiple operating and capital areas. Proposed changes and adjustments are also on the table including an amendment that would repurpose unused funding from the planned expansion of Real Time Crime Center cameras to the Central District and Capitol Hill.

The 2026 updates include $80.2 million to the Seattle Police Department for retroactive and ongoing wage increases under the new contract with officers, $3.0 million for the Interlocal Agreement with King County Department of Public Defense to adjust for reduced attorney caseload limits required by state guidelines, $2.5 million for capital improvements at the Seattle Chinese Garden, and a transfer of $500,000 from SPD to the Human Services Department for sexual assault victim support services per advisory panel recommendations. Continue reading →

Report: Seattle could create new tax district to fund fire department amid budget deficit

Posted on by
34

Seattle Fire Fighters Union, IAFF Local 27’s statement on the proposal

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and the City Council are exploring a proposal to create a special fire district to address a projected $175 million budget deficit, Publicola reports.

This plan would move a significant portion of the Seattle Fire Department’s $350 million budget out of the city’s general fund.

If approved by voters, the district could levy new property taxes or “benefit charges,” circumventing the state’s $3.60 per $1,000 property tax cap. Continue reading →

Seattle City Council finalizing 2026 budget with a few challenges for Mayor-elect Wilson

Posted on by

(Image: City of Seattle)

The Seattle City Council will spend Thursday and Friday finalizing the city’s 2026 budget including dozens or additions and tweaks made by the council members including District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth.

While the economic forecasts have somewhat improved, the political landscape has also shifted since Mayor Bruce Harrell submitted his budget proposal in September. There will be a new mayor a new mix on the council in 2026. The current council has made a few changes on its way to the door that will impact Mayor-elect Katie Wilson and the new, more progressive council roster in the years ahead.

FINAL BUDGET MEETINGS

  • Nov. 20 at 9:30 AM – Select Budget Committee Meeting with committee vote on budget as amended; written public comment accepted.

  • Nov. 21 at 1 PM – Special City Council Meeting to vote on Budget Legislation; oral and written public comment accepted.

Friday afternoon, the council will convene for its final vote on the entire 2026 budget package.

But first, Thursday morning, the council will review a roster of dozens of budget amendments debated and agreed upon across the past weeks of budget committee meetings.

CHS reported here on the line items and spending initiatives D3 rep Hollingsworth brought to the table including $1.25 million for Central District preservation, a boost for a new Black Advisory Council, $50,000 for rehabilitating Seven Hills Park, and, yes, even money for a revival of the Hilloween kids carnival.

Here is the full roster of 2026 items she sponsored or co-sponsored, according to her office: Continue reading →

Hollingsworth 2026 spending proposals: $1.25M for Central District preservation, Black Advisory Council boost, $50K for Seven Hills Park, and, yes, even money for Hilloween — UPDATE

Posted on by

A drone view of the affordable Acer House development at 23rd and Cherry (Image: @benmaritz)

Hollingsworth isn’t on the ballot this week — but her brother in-law Girmay Zahilay is as he waits for the first counts in the race for the King County Executive race (Image: Joy Hollingsworth via Facebook)

As Seattle voters consider new leaders this week, the current Seattle City Council is busy finalizing next year’s City Hall spending plan including proposals from District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth.

The council’s proposed tweaks, and additions reflect changing economic forecasts and neighborhood by neighborhood adjustments to Mayor Bruce Harrell’s 2026 budget proposal that hinges on continued strong public safety spending while preserving affordable housing, homelessness, and addiction programs through new revenue sources including the COVID-era JumpStart tax and hopes on this week’s General Election vote on overhauling the city’s B&O tax system.

The council’s cut on the proposed amendments will come Wednesday when budget chair Dan Strauss releases his balancing package followed by a day of public comment Thursday in front of the council’s Select Budget Committee.

Now in her second budget session since her 2023 election victory, D3’s Hollingsworth brought 20 proposed changes for the 2026 budget to the table.

Some of her 2026 proposals would address festering issues in D3. Continue reading →