Why 23rd Ave is at center of new Seattle Transportation Plan

(Image: CHS)

The mayor’s proposal for the priorities that will define the size and scope of Seattle’s next more than $1 billion transportation levy is now in the hands of the Seattle City Council. The council must now finalize the plan in preparation for taking a new levy proposal to voters this fall.

The council’s transportation committee will hold its first meeting on the process Tuesday.

CHS reported here on the Harrell administration’s efforts to shape the transportation plan and a framework for safe and efficient protected areas for bikers along its arteries, a proliferation of transit-only lanes, and preparations for possible new light rail lines criss-crossing Capitol Hill and the Central District along 23rd Ave and Denny Way.

The final proposal from Mayor Bruce Harrell has crystalized on a roster of highest priority initiatives and projects while also downplaying massive investments like new light rail lines. The plan would emphasize equity and economic investments along with safety and motor vehicle traffic priorities while also continuing the long-running effort to lower speeds across the city — a mix that places 23rd Ave at the top of the heap for Capitol Hill and Central District area investments.

This combination of priorities would create a plan that emphasizes major investments in parts of the city that are heavily populated but have been left behind in current transportation priorities like the Rainier Valley where traffic deaths and safety issues remain disproportionately high despite transit and development investments. Continue reading

City Council to decide on whether Seattle can use impact fee to fund transportation projects

(Image: SDOT)

Should Seattle reduce its reliance on property taxes to fund transportation by creating a fee on new development in the city? Or is a city facing an ongoing housing and affordability crisis at the scale of Seattle’s the last place you want to pile more costs onto development?

The Seattle City Council won’t decide any of that on Tuesday but it will vote on a proposal to amend its comprehensive plan to allow the council the option of implementing a new transportation impact fee program in the future — maybe as soon as next year.

On an agenda chock full of housekeeping and budget-related procedural votes, the vote on whether to open the door to debate in 2024 on a Seattle transportation impact fee is a big decision. Continue reading

Sawant’s last budget: bid to boost ‘Amazon Tax’ for mental health services and city employee wages — UPDATE

Kshama Sawant knows who her successor will be on a shifted Seattle City Council. This week, the veteran District 3 leader is hoping to shepherd forward a few last key initiatives including millions of dollars for mental health services in the city’s educational programs and millions more for sustaining the city’s ability to boost wages for its workers as she makes her final pass through the city’s budget process before she prepares to leave office at the end of the year.

The Seattle City Council meets Monday to begin finalizing an amendment package with more than 120 items as it works to rebalance Mayor Bruce Harrell’s 2024 proposals. You can view the full slate of proposed 2024 amendments and voting results here.

Sawant’s core push in the amendment process comes with some of the positioning the city has grown to expect from its firebrand socialist councilmember. The amendments she has put her muscle behind this fall would increase the JumpStart tax on Seattle’s largest companies by $20 million to fund “K-12 educational supports, prioritizing services that improve mental health outcomes” and another $40 million to support wage growth for city employees. In her message to supporters, Sawant, of course, refers to JumpStart as the “Amazon tax” while also tossing yet another barb at the Democratic party.

“Amazon just tripled its profits. Other big corporations also have reported record profits,” Sawant writes in the message calling for support at Monday’s public budget hearing. “These big corporations can easily pay a small amount more in our city’s Amazon Tax so that public sector workers and public school students can get their basic needs met.”

The council’s budget process must now be “self-balancing.” “That means when an amendment proposes new spending, it will have to explain how it will be funded – either by identifying new revenue or by taking money from somewhere else,” a council brief on the process reads. Continue reading

Seattle City Council budget committee discusses impact of JumpStart tax — including boost to human services provider wages

(Image: DESC)

Work to improve wages for human services workers in the city has paid off with boosted pay thanks to the JumpStart tax, according to a report to the Seattle City Council’s budget committee.

Monday’s committee meeting is hearing from Downtown Emergency Service Center officials about a report (PDF) showing that the DESC has been able to boost pay by 48% since last year to $29/hour — or $56,500 a year.

Last year, city officials including council budget chair Teresa Mosqueda set out to provide more funding to human service contractors like DESC to better stabilize wages for workers in the sector as providers struggled to fill positions and staff important services in Seattle’s efforts to address homelessness, addiction, and mental health. Continue reading

‘Options – not recommendations’ — Capital gains, vacancy, and congestion pricing taxes make Revenue Stabilization Workgroup list for raising alternative revenue at Seattle City Hall

A workgroup of “civic, policy, community, and business leaders” tasked with unearthing possible new alternative revenue sources for the City of Seattle will present a report Thursday with nine “new or expanded taxes” for leaders to consider.

Meanwhile, the council is also scrambling to explain exactly why the city is in such a rough financial position.

The Seattle City Council’s Finance and Housing Committee will review the Revenue Stabilization Workgroup report Thursday morning as the city faces “a structural budget deficit upwards of $200 million.” The taskforce was convened last year to create and recommend options to narrow that gap. Continue reading

Seattle shaping new ‘investment agenda’ for its $290M (and growing) JumpStart payroll tax revenue

The Seattle City Council is set to approve a new “investment agenda” for the $290 million JumpStart payroll tax that will create new opportunities for the city’s small businesses and help launch new initiatives like The Liberty Project, a new initiative focused on Black-owned businesses and businesses owned by underrepresented communities in the city.

CORRECTION: The agenda is for application of the 15% of the JumpStart revenues earmarked for “small business” expenditures.

Wednesday, the council’s Economic Development Committee will get a briefing from the Office Economic Development about the stakeholder process to create an “investment agenda to prioritize the use of these funds.”

The city says the “Future of the Seattle Economy” framework (PDF) was created with “stakeholder partners from over 80 organizations and government offices, as well as community leaders from a range of racial, ethnic and immigrant identities, neighborhoods, and sectors to create the FSE investment agenda, comprised of immediate investment recommendations and longer-term big bets.”

The council passed legislation creating the new payroll tax in the summer of 2022. Seattle companies with payrolls $7 million and up now pay a tax on payroll to employees making more than $150,000 per year. The tax rate ranges from 0.7% to 2.4% with tiers for various payroll and salary amounts and was created with hopes of patching the massive COVID-19 crisis-ripped hole in Seattle’s budget forecasts. Late amendments approved include an expanded 20-year sunset clause that puts the tax in place for two decades. Continue reading

$970M housing levy proposal set for November ballot

Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office says a new Seattle housing levy will create 3,100 new affordable homes, “stabilize supportive housing workforce,” and fund “other tools to prevent homelessness and ensure housing stability for more than 9,000 low-income households.”

The mayor signed legislation Tuesday that will put the $970 million Housing Levy renewal on the November ballot.

CHS reported in March on the shaping of the proposal to renew the seven-year property tax, last approved by voters in 2016.

Part of the new proposal includes funding to boost wages for workers who provide services to low income residents, a first, the Harrell administration says, in the 40 years of levy history.

The levy vote will appear on ballots later this year in the November 7th election that will also determine the make-up of the next city council.

 

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King County voters deciding on $1.25B Crisis Care Centers levy Proposition 1

Ballots are out for the April election. Don’t let yours get recycled. King County voters are deciding on a $1.25 billion behavioral health levy to create a new “regional network” of emergency mental health care centers.

CHS reported on the proposal here on the April ballot measure that would go into effect in 2024 if approved and would cost median-value homeowners an estimated $121 a year over a nine year period. The levy could raise as much as $1.25 billion through 2032 to fund construction of the five crisis care centers and increase services in the county. The Seattle City Council voted in March to support the proposal from County Executive Dow Constantine and the King County Council.

In a memo (PDF) prepared on the proposal to inform the city council vote on its resolution in support of the levy, council staff said the existing Downtown Emergency Service Center is overburdened and that people experiencing a crisis often end up “either in the emergency room or booked into a jail for a minor crime, although what is needed is a safe place to meet basic needs and address the cause of the crisis.” Continue reading

Seattle shapes $970M affordable housing levy renewal for November ballot

A renewal of Seattle’s affordable housing levy will take shape in a $970 million proposal set to hit the city’s ballot this fall.

Mayor Bruce Harrell announced the proposed levy Thursday and said it would support the development “of over 3,000 units of new affordable housing throughout the city” as well as making “first-of-its-kind investments” to “stabilize wages for workers who provide critical services to the lowest-income residents with the greatest supportive service needs.”

“The Housing Levy is a proven solution for delivering thousands of affordable housing options,” Harrell said in the announcement. “Rooted in our One Seattle values that everyone should have a safe place to call home, this plan invests to meet the scale of the housing crisis, doing more than ever to prevent homelessness.” Continue reading

Seattle City Council to vote on support for King County Crisis Care Centers levy

The Seattle City Council is expected to approve a resolution Tuesday in support of the King County Crisis Care Centers levy proposal slated to come before voters in April.

If approved, the levy would cost the median-value homeowner around an estimated $121 a year over a nine-year period. The levy could raise as much as $1.25 billion through 2032 to fund construction of the five crisis care centers and increase services in the county. Continue reading