After Mayor Jenny Durkan vetoed a Covid relief package saying it depleted the City’s rainy day fund, Budget Chair Teresa Mosqueda fired back that the need was now and waiting would inflict too much suffering and damage to the economy.
As part of its JumpStart Seattle package, the Seattle City Council passed a Covid relief package funded by $86 million in the City’s emergency reserves. Saturday morning, Mayor Durkan issued a veto.
“It is irresponsible to spend the entirety of our rainy day and emergency funds in the first few months of what is likely a multi-year crisis,” Mayor Durkan said in a veto statement.
Council Budget Chair Teresa Mosqueda, who authored the JumpStart legislation, criticized the move and suggested a veto override is imminent.
“Rent is due today. Federal cash assistance ends today. And today the Mayor vetoes Covid relief for small businesses and families. In the midst of an economic contraction that is four times worse than the Great Depression, we can’t afford to take a wait and see approach when Seattle families’ health, jobs and housing is on the line,” Councilmember Mosqueda said in a statement. “If we wait, what we’ll see is more folks unable to pay rent, more families without food, more businesses closing, and more people losing their jobs and along with it health care during a pandemic.”
“The Mayor’s veto will flatline Seattle’s recovery,” Mosqueda said, adding in a tweet “We’ll override this with your help.”
Councilmember Mosqueda said she intends to bring the Covid Relief Bill for another vote to Council in the coming weeks, noting “upon receiving vetoed legislation, the Council must wait five days to act” according to municipal code.
The Mayor said she was willing to spend the reserves but preferred to wait for a number reasons. She said she expects better forecasting later in the year on future budget shortfalls and is holding out hopes for federal assistance. Moreover, she said the payroll tax revenue that City Council’s spending plan tabs to replenish reserves could face a legal challenge that would delay or invalidate it.
“I do fully expect that the City will need to use the vast majority of its emergency funds as it relates to Covid-19 and the economic crisis over the next few years. While we all support the use of the funds for Covid-19 relief, drawing down 90% of our emergency reserves now without a better understanding of our financial situation for the remainder of this year, 2021, and beyond is unwise. It also will ultimately hurt the very people we need to serve the most,” Mayor Durkan said. “City Council’s budget process cannot continue to be spending or cutting tens of millions of dollars without concrete plans.”
The Mayor said the City had already allocated $233 million in Covid relief and philanthropic partners had added “at least $108 million” more, seeming to suggest that would be sufficient for now.
