The proposed $9 billion 2026 budget presented by Mayor Bruce Harrell today is contingent on a variety of things, not just the City Council’s review, revision, and approval process. As noted by city budget director Dan Eder in a media briefing before the mayor’s proposal went public, the plan’s status as a “balanced budget” depends on approval of some proposed taxes, like the so-called “Seattle Shield” tax and the expanded Families, Education, Preschool, Promise levy, both of which go to voters on the November ballot, plus the one-tenth of a cent “public-safety sales tax” the Legislature gave local governments the authority to charge.
The city had already done some belt-tightening when financial forecasts looked ever-gloomier, Eder said:
While almost half the full $9 billion plan goes to utilities, transportation, and environment spending, as per the pie chart below, Eder says much of that is mandated:
And if you pull out the $2 billion general fund, half of that goes to public safety:
Eder said the budget for police staffing is growing because they’re hiring more officers than expected and losing fewer than expected:
Meantime, funding to expand the major teams comprising the CARE Department – crisis responders and 911 dispatchers/calltakers – will be heavily dependent on the aforementioned “public safety sales tax”:
In another area of interest, Parks and Recreation would get funding to add three more park rangers, for a total of 31, and would get $1 million more to fight graffiti vandalism. The department’s own summary also mentions increased restroom maintenance.
There’s a lot more to say about the budget, but those are a few notes for now. You can see the entire 702-page budget proposal, with department-by-department breakouts, here (PDF, 20 MB). Here’s the agenda for the council’s first all-budget meeting at 9:30 am Thursday; public hearings are currently planned for October 7 and November 6, with the budget to be finalized before Thanksgiving.
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