Seattle mayor unveils ‘pivotal’ $7.4 billion biennial city budget proposal
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In a maintenance facility for city vehicles, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell focused on the basics in his first budget speech, as the city faces a $140 million shortfall, in part because of inflation.
“We looked to bend the curve of spending and prioritize essential city services and urgent needs of our community,” Harrell said.
The mayor says the city must recruit and retain police officers, bolstering a department that now has the fewest number of available officers in thirty years.
“Too often, residents feel unsafe on the streets,” Harrell said. “I believe that in One Seattle, every person has an absolute right to safety.”
The mayor wants to increase the fire department’s recruitment class by 50%, bring back park rangers, and spend $2 million looking at alternative 911 responses.
Harrell wants to move parking enforcement officers back to the Seattle Police Department about a year after the city moved them to the transportation department as a way of reimagining public safety.
The move back to SPD will save $5 million in overhead costs.
“I want to make sure that we’re not taking a step back or rehashing old conversations,” said city council budget chair Teresa Mosqueda. “What we all want is to make sure we can create a new response to public safety needs.”
Weeks after criticizing the new King County Regional Homelessness Authority, Harrell proposes increasing the city’s contribution by 13%.
He also said Seattle will spend nearly a quarter billion dollars on affordable housing in 2023.
“As long as people live in parks and on sidewalks, sleep in tents and on benches, we cannot sit still,” the mayor said.
Harrell’s two-year budget now goes before the city council, which will hold public hearings over the next two months and make many revisions.
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Harrell says moving PEOs back within SPD could save nearly $5 million in general fund costs and included the cost of hiring a transition project manager in his budget proposal.
The proposed budget also includes funding to support recruiting and retaining other critical workers including firefighters, park rangers, victims’ advocates and child care workers.
“I pledged to make the investments necessary to fund public safety services at the level our residents expect and demand – this budget accomplishes that goal,” said Harrell. “To ensure effective long-term public safety and undo longstanding issues, it’s clear we need additional resources and staffing — in all our categories of first responders.”
The approximately $7.4 billion in budget appropriations include $1.6 billion in the city’s General Fund, as well as $294 million in funds raised by the JumpStart payroll tax.
Harrell’s spending proposal marks the city’s return to operating on a biennial budget, after the city switched to an annual budget model during the COVID-19 pandemic to adapt to continually changing economic circumstances.
The City Council will review the mayor’s proposed budget over the next two months, with public hearings scheduled on Oct. 11, Nov. 8 and Nov. 15.
To view the Mayor’s full 2023 - 2024 budget proposal, visit the City Budget Office’s website.
