Seattle/King County Climate News 8.9.23
Robin Briggs
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Seattle
A City Council committee voted to remove funding for planning for the Center City Connector, a proposed new streetcar line to connect the South Lake Union line to the First Hill-Broadway line.
The Revenue Stabilization Workgroup has issued its report on ways to meet Seattle's revenue gap. Besides austerity, the report listed these ways to potentially boost revenue:
JumpStart payroll tax. There are a number of different ways to raise the current tax: increase tax rates for employees already paying, increase the number of employees it applies to by lowering the income level requirement, increase the number of companies it applies to by lowering the total payroll size threshhold. The City's rules for how it handles the revenue would have to change in order for the new revenue to be used for the General Fund. Revenue from this tax is currently volatile, partly because it applies to a small number of companies. Changes could be implemented quickly.
Capital gains tax. A 1% tax could raise as much as $25-$30 million, although revenue seems likely to be volatile. It would be a progressive tax, and could be implemented quickly.
High CEO Pay Ratio Tax. Surcharge to existing JumpStart Payroll Expense Tax that charges companies with high CEO pay, similar to a tax levied in San Francisco. and Portland. It's progressive, but companies could pass expenses to consumers and workers.
Vacancy Tax. A tax on vacant rental units. Could generate $5-$20 million, depending on how it is implemented. Implementation would have to adhere to the State Constituional requirements for property tax uniformity, which would require analysis.
Progressive Real Estate Excise Tax. An additional real estate tax applied to sales of high value properties. This would require the State to grant the City authority, which could be done for select cities or counties with a declared homelessness emergency. If it were levied on properties more than $5 million, it could raise $7-$14 million annually.
Estate Tax. The City could impose an increment onto the State tax that is already levied. It would be progressive, and depending on how it is applied, could raise $5-$10 million per year.
Inheritance Tax. Similar to an estate tax, but applies to those who inherit. There are some states that do this currently; Washington was one until it was repealed by initiative in 1981 in favor of an estate tax. It would be progressive, but would be difficult to implement and would require State authorization.
Congestion Tax. A tax on driving on heavily congested roads and corridors. It would reduce congestion and pollution. It would require State approval if applied on any State roads. It would be somewhat progressive, since richer people drive more, and could be made more so with targeted exemptions. It would require a lot of time and work to implement.
Income Tax. The City could levy a flat income tax up to 1%, but it may not levy a progressive tax. Such a tax would raise approximately $670 million per year, and could be made more progressive if combined with rebates, if the spending were targeted to lower income communities, or if some existing regressive tax were rolled back. Further work is required to determine whether State authorization would be required. Setting up a system for collection would require several years.
Sound Transit
The Sound Transit board has voted on new locations for the new South Lake Union stations. The "Shifted North" is the new preferred alternative, as requested by Mayor Bruce Harrell, which puts a new station just north of Denny. It preserves the possibility of the station just south of Denny, so that will continue to be studied, and it removes the possibility of a station on Terry Ave. The Terry Ave. location was removed mainly because of difficulties with utilities. The new preferred location north of Denny will be more expensive by about $170 million, and it is not clear where the extra money would come from, but there are a lot of concerns about the original, south of Denny location as it is believed it require the closure of Westlake Ave for 4 years. This new alternative will require a new EIS; the proposed changes to Chinatown station would also require a new EIS. See reporting in the Urbanist for more details.
Stride BRT, which is a new bus rapid transit service to run from Tukwila to Lynnwood on the east side of Lake Washington along new dedicated lanes on I-405, has hit cost overruns of $200 million and will also be delayed by several years. There are many reasons for this, and much that could be done, but hasn't, to contain costs. See this article in the Urbanist: Stride BRT is Vastly Over Budget, Risks Stressing Other ST3 Projects.
State
There's a new initiative for rolling back the Climate Commitment Act, which is bankrolled by Republican mega-donor Brian Heywood. Getting the initiative on the ballot would require 324,516 valid signatures by Dec. 29 of this year. If successful, the initiative would then come before the Legislature next Session, and assuming lawmakers don't approve it, would go on the ballot in 2024. Thanks to the Washington Observer.