Facing pressure from the Harrell administration, the Seattle City Council voted to move parking enforcement back to the Seattle Police Department (SPD) after a very brief sojourn in the transportation department. But not every SPD line item in the mayor’s budget was approved. In its marathon amendment vote day Monday, the city council also voted to abrogate 80 vacant positions at SPD in a 7-2 vote, with only Councilmembers Alex Pedersen and Sara Nelson opposed.
Speaking of vacancies, council did provide poorly-paid human service providers the cost-of-living raise they were promised and seemingly guaranteed with an earlier ordinance passed in 2019, which then-Councilmember Bruce Harrell supported. Mayor Harrell proposed to rescind that cost-of-living schedule and halve the promised raise to 4%. With high vacancies at city-contracted nonprofits doing homeless outreach and services, this budget cut could have undermined the Seattle’s ability to provide those services.
“[This budget] invests in wages for human service providers who keep folks housed and help find housing and services for those experiencing homelessness,” Budget Chair Teresa Mosqueda said in a statement. “It helps build a resilient and more equitable economy by connecting people with strong union jobs. It invests in the most pressing need in our community by making the largest investment in affordable housing in our city’s history, a 400% increase since 2016.”
Mosqueda tallied the affordable housing investment at $253 million investment and said the nearly $50 million increase over the previous year was only made possible by JumpStart payroll tax that she spearheaded in 2020. The chair’s balancing package does not fund four positions at the Office of Housing, after a Tammy Morales amendment laying the groundwork for a social housing program failed to garner enough votes. The City could ultimately be obligated to do this work if Initiative 135 (setting up a public developer of social housing) passes in February.
JumpStart closes growing budget shortfall again
As in the last two budgets, JumpStart backfilled holes in Seattle’s budget, but Mayor Harrell’s push to permanently remove guardrails preventing JumpStart from being funneled to the general fund was thwarted. That means JumpStart’s spending plan, which prioritizes affordable housing, Green New Deal investments, and small business support, will eventually go into full force. And future mayoral budgets will need to seek council approval each time they raid the JumpStart fund.
The whole budget debate ended up being colored by projected shortfalls caused by a last-minute negative revenue forecast that forced council to cut a further $80 million over the next two years. The shortfall largely stems from a drop in projected real estate excise tax (REET) revenue related to the expected recession and high interest rates slowing development activity. Fewer real estate transfers directly translate to less REET revenue.
Mixed bag on transportation
The Urbanist, along with our allies at Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, Transit Riders Unions, and the Solidarity Budget coalition, pushed the city to keep parking enforcement outside of SPD, fund protected bike lanes and pedestrian safety improvements in District 2, ensure the automated speed camera enforcement expansion is equitable, and reverse sidewalk funding cuts that make our city less accessible for disabled people.
