The City of Seattle declared this week “Affordable Housing Week” as part of an annual tradition, with the Housing Development Consortium hosting events highlighting affordable housing efforts both planned and underway. Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda sponsored the resolution at city council, and she is also the driving force behind the Jumpstart Seattle progressive payroll tax that is set to become the city’s largest source of funding for affordable housing.
“I’m especially excited about this year’s Affordable Housing Week proclamation because we have a lot of work to do in the horizon, but we’ve also been able to celebrate a tremendous amount of wins in the last few years,” Mosqueda said during the weekly council briefing on Monday, noting Jumpstart revenues would continue to increase in coming years.
The first year of Jumpstart spending plan was used to backfill holes in Mayor Jenny Durkan’s budget, but the long-term spending plan sets aside two-thirds of revenue for affordable housing. As of April when projections were again revised up, Jumpstart is projected to pull in about $277 million this year, and the tax prevailed in its first legal challenge from the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.
Paired with increasing proceeds from Seattle’s Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) program and the Seattle Housing Levy, Jumpstart is poised to continue to boost the City’s affordable housing awards over coming years. This has already fueled a significant uptick in affordable housing production from the City’s nonprofit partners.
“There are over 5,400 new affordable units currently under development, with 4,000 of those opening in this upcoming year,” Mosqueda said. “That’s an incredible investment.”
MHA posts record-setting $76 million haul in 2021
The Seattle Office of Housing revealed that last year MHA raised almost $76 million in fees and produced 95 rent-capped units on-site in its annual housing reports released earlier this month. “Both metrics increased from 2020, when Covid-19 disrupted the market and when the totals were $68 million in fees and 21 on-site units,” noted Daniel Beekman of The Seattle Times, who covered the news earlier this week. From its inception through the end of 2021, MHA has pulled in $171.4 million. Even with the recent surge in production, only about 9% of Seattle’s housing stock is composed of affordable rent-restricted homes.
