The council will consider this group of amendments together in a single package
The Seattle City Council is spending Thursday morning reshaping Mayor Katie Wilson’s proposed Seattle sales tax increase to pay for “better-than-baseline” bus service on key lines in the city to prepare the proposition for the November ballot.
Thursday’s session is dedicated to a roster of amendments proposed by the council including a bid to slice the proposed increase in half. The mayor’s proposal would increase the sales tax by 0.15% to 0.30%. Councilmember Bob Kettle has proposed an amendment that would cap the increase to the sales tax at 0.225%.
The Wilson administration proposal would bump the current 0.15% Seattle Transportation Benefit District sales tax up to 0.30%, generating an estimated $138 million annually.
Kettle says his alternative for the 10-year plan maintains funding for bus service and 22,000 free ORCA passes while eliminating plans for capital spending that overlaps with the 2024 Transportation Levy.
According to the Seattle Department of Transportation $96.1 million of the measure’s annual funding under Wilson’s plan would go to increased transit service, while $23.4 million would be earmarked for the city’s struggling streetcar lines, $9 million for transit access programs including free ORCA passes, and $3.5 million for capital projects.
These proposed amendments — including Kettle’s — are being considered individually
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