We’re still months from the Mayor of Seattle submitting his budget proposal to the Seattle City Council. I know not everyone is riveted by municipal finance, but after nearly 15 years spent working in government, I am! And I do know our members, and the voters, care deeply about prioritizing outcomes on our region’s biggest issues: homelessness, public safety, and affordability.

City budgets are a clear statement of how our elected leaders plan to drive outcomes. At the Chamber, we recently partnered with the Downtown Seattle Association on a letter to the City of Seattle asking leaders to approach budgeting with voters’ voices in mind.

As we get closer to fall, when city budget talks begin in earnest, I’m hopeful that our civic conversation will separate myths from facts.

Myth: The Chamber is anti-tax

We do ourselves a disservice when we let budget conversations devolve into who is pro-tax and who is anti-tax. The Chamber has supported many tax measures in the past, including:

  • King County’s bond measure to make important public health and seismic upgrades to Harborview Medical Center – a project that supports thousands of jobs
  • King County’s Health Through Housing plan to add 2,000-plus units of permanent supportive housing
  • Both Seattle Public Schools levies to pay for additional educational programs and technology services

We have also opposed taxes – including the payroll tax, which we believed was illegal. Taxes are not inherently good or inherently bad. They function to fund the things we need for a strong quality of life.

Myth: The only path forward to bridge city budget gaps is increasing taxes

Our lives do not improve simply because government is collecting more taxes. Lives improve because we prioritize spending the revenue to get better outcomes: reasonable emergency response times, services and emergency housing for people experiencing homelessness, housing that is affordable across the income spectrum, well-maintained parks, and reliable transit. There are also policy decisions that are crucial to these outcomes like building more housing, which should not be solved by public financial investment alone. The planning, policy, and prioritization are as important as the revenue.

Myth: Making budget adjustments or cuts means you support an austerity budget

Budgets should start with a rigorous analysis of existing spending to determine if it is both effective and necessary – measured against the priorities. I have added to programs that were getting results and created new programs that looked promising. I have made the call to dissolve not only programs, but entire departments and projects because they weren’t getting outcomes or because it was more important, or more effective, to make other kinds of investments. Doing everything an institution has always done, at the same level and in the same way, and then adding to it is both unsustainable and doesn’t recognize what’s happening in our communities.

Myth: Seattle’s general fund revenues are declining

The budget gap that the City of Seattle faces is not because revenue is declining. The city’s general fund revenues have been growing steadily since 2004, even if the pace of growth has varied from year to year.

The courts just upheld the payroll tax, which generated an additional $248 million in 2021 and is projected to generate $277 million in 2022. The City can choose to use this tax, which is not restricted by state law, to meet its service delivery needs – law enforcement, firefighters, potholes, or homeless services.

Myth: Seattle voters think we need new taxes to bridge the budget gap

In the most recent installation of The Index in March 2022, we asked 700 Seattle voters questions about the city budget, which at the time faced a projected $150 million deficit. Two out of three Seattle voters said the city should take a prioritization approach before considering tax increases.

The recent discussions at City Hall about a task force to recommend a new tax or tax increase do not align with where voters are. Before jumping ahead to revenue, budget conversations must start with how the city will prioritize and re-center spending to make Seattle safer, more affordable and ensure more people are housed.

The bottom line

Businesses, nonprofits, and families across our city are prioritizing and making decisions as pandemic effects, inflation and supply chain pressures linger. How our government partners are investing matters.

The city, finding itself in a relatively stable financial position, can use this moment to rebuild trust with the voters by prioritizing and spending its first dollars, not its last dollars, on the basics and the most urgent and important priorities.

Shaking up the conversation,

Rachel

Rachel Smith
President and CEO
Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce