Facing deficit, Seattle considers first city worker buyout program since 2002

Up against budget pressures and a plan to snuff out a deficit, the Seattle City Council is considering an ordinance to authorize the Seattle Department of Human Resources director to offer eligible city employees a “voluntary early separation program.”

The legislation would amend municipal code to give SDHR authority to design, bargain, and implement early retirements. While the city offered similar programs in 1996 and 2002 to “mitigate layoffs on the City’s workforce in anticipation of significant revenue shortfalls,” a council analysis noted that unlike those prior initiatives, the legislation being proposed this week would not require explicit council approval to enact.

The City Budget Office estimates payouts will cost around $6.5 million, in addition to $2.3 million of sick/vacation cashouts above normal. The CBO expects departments to absorb these costs using “vacancy savings” without additional appropriations.

According to council documents, officials do not anticipate savings in 2027 due to upfront incentives, but CBO “aims to save around $8 million GF per year ongoing” starting in 2028.

The plan comes under Mayor Katie Wilson’s 2027-2028 budget proposal which would wipe out a $175 million deficit without tax increases or withdrawals from city reserves. The proposal would cut roughly $50 million annually in General Fund spending by eliminating 128 positions and aligning departmental budgets with historical costs, pairing these cuts with $50 million in shuffled funding by leveraging JumpStart payroll tax revenues to cover core services and homelessness programs.

As the council shapes the budget over the coming weeks, arts organizations have called on leaders to move $6 million from spending on police hiring to support artists in the city.