Tuesday’s Seattle Housing & Finance Meeting
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The latest Seattle budget forecast had some good news: the City has an extra $50m in unanticipated revenues for 2021. The revenue is predicted to dip slightly in 2022. The less good news is that the demand for office space in Seattle is still low, and inflation is increasing.
The CMs passed the supplemental budget out of committee, and it will be voted on in Full Council on Monday, September 13, which is the next Seattle Council meeting. Included in the bill is the public safety amendment proposed by CM Herbold and CM Mosqueda, along with its two amendments, a rundown of which you can find in my last newsletter. A separate amendment from CM Pedersen funding a new crime prevention coordinator at SPD also passed, as did funding for the Garfield Super Block, although the latter will come from a REET, not from SPD. As things currently stand, the supplemental budget with these amendments likely has the votes to pass.
Election News
The primary results have now been certified, meaning the races we’ve already been talking about are now definitely happening. You can look at votes for different races by precinct here, as well as some analysis from The Urbanist about what those results mean.
Summer Recess
Seattle City Council is taking their summer recess for the next few weeks, and several campaigns and non-profits are also taking a little breather to recover from a busy spring and summer. We will likely have a few slow news weeks (knock on wood!), so now is a great time to relax, rejuvenate, and take some down time before election season and budget season kick into high gear in September.
Until next time!