Last week a King County Superior Court judge annulled the City of Seattle’s Waterfront LID assessments on seven properties, after those property owners appealed the assessments. The judge found that the city’s process of calculating assessments was fundamentally flawed, and arbitrary and capricious; that the Hearing Examiner misapplied the presumption …
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City of Seattle ARPA funds spending update
This week the Seattle City Council is hearing an update on how the city has spent the hundreds of millions of dollars of federal COVID relief funding granted to it through the American Rescue Plan Act.
Continue readingNon-profit social worker wage equity study
Last month the city released a report it commissioned on wage equity for social workers at nonprofits in Seattle. According to the report, there continues to be a significant wage gap for human services workers compared to other industries.
Continue readingWashington state March 2023 economic forecast
The State of Washington has published its March 2023 economic forecast. It makes for interesting reading given the current mixed signals as to whether the country will enter a recession this year.
Continue readingKing County Regional Homeless Authority proposed 5-year plan
The King County Regional Homeless Authority has published a proposed 5-year plan, which it was required to create under the charter that created the agency. The proposed plan has been received coolly so far, mostly due to its large price tag.
Continue readingState economic and revenue forecast update
The state’s Economic and Revenue Forecast Council has released its quarterly forecast update. Here’s the executive summary: I hope you found this article valuable. If you did, please take a moment to make a contribution to support my ongoing work. Thanks!
Continue readingSeattle 2023 budget “balancing package”
Seattle City Council budget chair Teresa Mosqueda has unveiled her “balancing package” of amendments to Mayor Harrell’s proposed 2023 city budget. Her colleagues on the Council have until Wednesday to propose any further amendments, which will be discussed and voted on next week, with the final budget approval scheduled for …
Continue readingCity of Seattle Revenue Forecast Update
Today the City of Seattle’s Office of Economic and Revenue Forecasts released its November update to its revenue forecast, which will provide final revenue numbers for the City Council’s 2023 budget. According to the forecast office, the 2023 General Fund total revenue forecast, according to their three economic scenarios: The …
Continue readingCity Council staff memo on 2023 budget “general fund” deficit
The Seattle City Council’s staff have published a budget memo detailing the issues with the predicted deficit for the General Fund. It summarizes where the deficit came from, the Mayor’s proposal to deal with it in his proposed 2023 budget, and various options for the Council to consider in building …
Continue readingMayor’s proposed 2023-2024 City of Seattle budget
This afternoon Mayor Harrell unveiled his proposed budget for 2023 and 2024. Here are some charts diving into the budget as a whole: And here are some drilling down on the SPD budget: Some of the more notable things in Harrell’s budget: I hope you found this article valuable. If …
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