The Seattle City Council won’t move forward with a restriction on more than $25 million in funding already budgeted for the city’s Equitable Development Initiative but is adding new reporting requirements to the program.
CHS reported here on the council’s pause on debate over the proposed restriction from Councilmember Maritza Rivera as community groups pushed back on a move that would have cut key funding they said was needed for long-term projects.
The funding supports groups like the Somali Health Board, Friends of Little Saigon, Estelita’s Library, Tubman Health Center, and the Nehemiah Initiative and projects including new community and meeting spaces.
Rivera was pushing for a pause on the initiative’s 2024 funding until $53 million from previous years has been spent by the organizations receiving the awards that are intended for “projects that help root community in place, create greater cohesion, and lift up community entrepreneurship and community-driven development to fight displacement and create greater shared prosperity.”
The proposed restriction brought swift condemnation from groups including the NAACP and criticism that the cutoff would harm long-term investments that take time to develop like new community centers and meeting spaces.
Tuesday, the council voted 8-1 for a revised amendment to the budget that leaves the 2024 funding alone while adding new reporting requirements to the program. Councilmember Tammy Morales opposed the new requirements.
The debate comes as Seattle wrestles with a projected more than $230 million budget deficit next year as inflation and wages have ballooned and officials are eyeing revenue from the city’s JumpStart tax on its largest employers as a potential source to patch part of the hole.
The tax on the payrolls of Seattle’s largest employers was instituted to help power pandemic recovery but now one of the more flexible sources of major revenue available for city hall’s spending plans.
More than $200 million in JumpStart tax dollars were earmarked for affordable housing and human services in the city’s 2024 budget.
Las year, “Changes to JumpStart Payroll Expense Tax” was listed atop the city’s Revenue Stabilization Workgroup’s so-called “short list” for possible alternative revenue sources to help Seattle overcome the deficit.
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