Tag Archives: taxes

Strong Election Night tallies show Seattle set to approve new business tax for Social Housing plus two school levies

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(Image: House our Neighbors)

A low turnout February election apparently won’t stop Seattle from making progress on funding its new Social Housing Developer and backing the renewal of two school levies.

Election Night first tallies show voters approving a new tax to fund the city’s new housing program and, thus, rejecting a Seattle City Council backed alternative that critics said would have limited the new effort. 68% of voters in the first count approved funding the developer. More than 57.5% said the city should move forward with the new business tax.

With approval, the measure will add a 5% tax on companies for every dollar over a million paid to a Seattle employee in annual compensation including salary, stock, and bonuses to fund the city’s new public Social Housing Developer. The House our Neighbors group behind the salary tax proposal says it would add up to around $50 million a year to fund the development authority and power its ability to borrow to build or acquire 2,000 units of housing over 10 years. Continue reading →

Seattle Council rejects capital gains tax proposal for housing and food programs one last time in 2024 — Next year could be a different story

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Seattle won’t add a capital gains tax this year.

Supporters of the proposed capital gains tax in Seattle to fund housing and food assistance programs made one last push Thursday as the Seattle City Council executed a series of votes to finalize the 2025 budget.

CHS reported here on the final 2025 spending plan including a $10 million reallocation from Black Lives Matter “participatory budgeting” to fund disadvantaged communities and a roster of Capitol Hill public safety investments.

Included in Thursday’s final votes was the capital gains 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. Tuesday, a majority of the council’s budget committee rejected the proposal. Thursday’s full council also voted the plan down with only three members in support as District 3’s Joy Hollingsworth opted to side with the “no” votes. Continue reading →

After transportation levy’s big win, push begins for voter support for new Seattle Social Housing payroll tax

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Tech 4 Housing volunteers were out in support of ballot Initiative 137 this weekend (Image: @tech4housing)

The Prop 1 transportation levy had strong support across the city (Image: wacommunityalliance.github.io)

With more than 66% of Seattle voters approving the city’s $1.55 billion transportation levy earlier this month, attention is now turning to the next big financial decision set for the ballot this winter

Volunteers from Tech 4 Housing were at the Capitol Hill Farmers Market this weekend raising support for funding social housing.

Advocates won’t have to pitch more property taxes for this one. The Let’s Build Social Housing ballot Initiative 137 would add a 5% tax on companies for every dollar over a million paid to a Seattle employee in annual compensation including salary, stock, and bonuses. It will appear on the ballot in a special election in February.

A Seattle City Council-backed alternative initiative will also be presented to voters. That proposal would not create a new tax, instead amending the existing JumpStart payroll tax to provide $10 million annually to the Seattle Social Housing Developer in funding administered by the Seattle Office of Housing for five years with an option for extending the program.

Under state law, voters will be presented with a two-part decision. “Should either of these measures be enacted into law?” will be the first question. Then voters must select which of the two options they prefer.

As for the transportation levy, Seattle voters easily backed its focus on spending on streets, transit, sidewalk, and bike lanes for the next eight years with only the city’s wealthiest neighborhoods voting against the proposition.

 

Raiding JumpStart, new capital gains tax, Capitol Hill public safety line items on table in final Seattle 2025 budget push

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The last big push of changes for the city’s 2025 $8.3 billion budget plan is underway as the Seattle City Council will host a busy week of public hearings and committee meetings including debate on a balancing package that includes a roster of Capitol Hill public safety investments and a proposal for a new capital gains tax in the city.

Meanwhile, a group of services, housing, and transit advocates are calling on leaders to back off a plan to repurpose the city’s JumpStart payroll tax on its largest employers to help cover a looming, more than $250 million budget deficit.

Tuesday’s scheduled includes a 5 PM public hearing on the budget followed by a Wednesday council session with split morning and afternoon hearing sessions focused on 2025 revenue including the JumpStart debate, adjusting a multitude of city fees and fines, and consideration of a new capital gains tax in Seattle.

The capital gains tax proposal from North Seattle City Councilmember Cathy Moore 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. Last week, state voters defeated Initiative 2109 that would have repealed the tax. Continue reading →

JumpStart tax to the rescue, City Hall job cuts in mayor’s plan to overcome Seattle’s $250M budget deficit

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It will be the JumpStart tax to the rescue for Mayor Bruce Harrell and the Seattle City Hall budget in 2025.

The Seattle mayor Tuesday unveiled his administration’s 2025-2026 budget plan including proposals to overcome a projected $250 million deficit by grabbing JumpStart revenue and slicing more than 150 jobs at City Hall.

The city’s projected budget will reach $8.3 billion under the plan.

The tax on the payrolls of Seattle’s largest employers was instituted to help power pandemic recovery with affordable housing and social services but is now one of the only flexible sources of major revenue available for the city’s spending plans.

Tuesday, Harrell justified the 2025-2026 JumpStart decision, saying the revenue from the tax has doubled over the last four years and that the city has leaned on the tax to support general spending “every year since it was introduced.”

“The proposals you hear about in this budget – and the deep, unacceptable cuts that we didn’t have to propose – are possible only because of this approach,” Harrell said. Continue reading →

Seattle City Council cooks up alternative to new social housing salary tax for February ballot

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The Seattle City Council has been eyeing the city’s pandemic-era JumpStart tax used to pay for services and affordable housing as a possible band-aid to patch up myriad holes from the city’s projected deficit. Now the council is considering a proposal that would raid the funding as an alternative to the upcoming ballot measure to create a new $1 million salary tax to fund social housing.

Seattle City Councilmember Maritza Rivera representing the city’s northeast District 4 has unveiled proposed legislation that would put a competing measure on the February ballot. If passed by the council, the proposal would present voters with an alternative for funding the newly created Seattle Social Housing Developer. Continue reading →

Assessor: Capitol Hill residential property values pop 6.5%, reversing pandemic trends

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A single-family style home neighboring multifamily housing on Capitol Hill (Image: City of Seattle)

One thing is back to normal coming out of the pandemic. Seattle’s property values are on the rise again.

The King County Assessor’s office says residential property values rose in “most Seattle neighborhoods” as it establishes valuations for the next year and mails out notices to homeowners.

County assessor John Wilson says median residential property values “rose by 6.5% in Queen Anne and Capitol Hill, and by 6.2% in Leschi/Madison Park” while values fell by 2.5% in Seward Park.

The office says “preliminary indications” show most residential areas of King County will increase more than 10% on average in the new assessment. “Commercial properties are more mixed depending on property type,” according to the announcement. Continue reading →

Seattle set to vote on $1.55B transportation levy this fall

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(Image: SDOT)

The Seattle City Council has reached one of its most important milestones of the year, finalizing a $1.55 billion transportation levy for the November ballot.

Mayor Bruce Harrell can now sign off on the proposed property tax levy and put the decision in the hands of Seattle’s voters.

Despite its record size, the city’s electorate seem unlikely to reject the levy and its focus on spending on streets, transit, sidewalk, and bike lanes for the next eight years.

Tuesday’s council approval came with one final element to sweeten the pot as members agreed to earmark $20 million of the levy’s future funding for work to complete the “missing link” of the Burke-Gilman Trail in Councilmember Dan Strauss’s district. Continue reading →

Seattle City Council makes tweaks to $970M housing levy spending plan ‘with focus on homelessness prevention’

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In business wrapped up before the Independence Day holiday, the Seattle City Council heard updates on spending powered by the $970 million voter-approved housing levy and signed-off on adjustments that council members say will increase spending on “homelessness prevention.”

Councilmember Cathy Moore, (District 5, North Seattle) and chair of the House and Human Services Committee, says the changes will allow the city build the 3,000 “desperately-needed affordable homes” initially promised under the 2023 levy, while also growing opportunities for first-time home ownership, and “vastly” expanding rental assistance “to proactively prevent homelessness.” Continue reading →

Seattle City Council making final additions, cuts to transportation levy proposal on way to November ballot — UPDATE

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The Seattle City Council is working Tuesday to finalize the transportation levy proposal set to appear on November’s ballot and set the course for spending on streets, transit, sidewalk, and bike lanes for the next eight years.

Tuesday’s session will focus on debate over a roster of amendments with proposed additions and cuts to the package that could raise the price tag from its current $1.55 billion level.

Tammy Morales representing South Seattle’s District 2 is coming to the table with proposed additions that could push the total levy to $1.7 billion including adding $15.5 million more for “neighborhood-initiated safety projects,” $14.5 million more “for the creation of new sidewalks and safe pathways,” and $30 million more for arterial roadway maintenance. Continue reading →