Seattle City Council set to send $480M library levy proposal to voters

The Seattle City Council led by council president and District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth will take up a busy slate of approvals Tuesday afternoon including legislation paving the way for a proposed $410 million library levy to appear on the summer ballot.

• $480M library levy: The full council is expected to approve Mayor Katie Wilson’s library levy proposal for the August ballot. With amendments, the package would total $480 million. Over the course of the proposal’s seven-year run, the median Seattle homeowner would pay about $163 a year, according to the city’s analysis. The council’s approval will OK a plan that exceeds the legal limit on city property taxes under state law that allows a municipality to seek voter approval for levies that exceed the “lid”–
  If the 2026 Library Levy is approved by the voters, the 2027 total regular tax limit in the first year would be $0.19/$1,000 in assessed value. Qualifying low-income seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities who own their principal residence within the City of Seattle would be exempt from the levied amount as authorized under 84.36.381 RCW. In King County, the exemption currently extends to homeowners above age 61 or with a disability rating of at least 80% with a qualifying household income. Revenue projections in this ordinance and fiscal note are inclusive of anticipated exemptions offered under 84.36.381 RCW.
  CHS reported here on the proposal that includes millions for security and social services including a planned $11 million to fund security personnel and $1.2 million to support social service referrals across the 27 library system. The bulk of the funding — $218.4 — would support maintaining current operating hours at the branches while increasing spending on all-ages programs and the new security. A council committee added another $70 million in spending to the package including millions for a renovation of the Central Library branch.  The levy, if approved by voters, will replace the expiring 2019 voter approved version The previous levy weighed in at $31.3 million a year. Mayor Wilson’s proposal comes as Seattle is nearing a legal limit on property taxes. CHS reported here on a city hall analysis showing Seattle’s property tax structure is currently operating only about $780 million below legal limits, necessitating a “capacity reserve” to manage potential fluctuations in property values.
  
• Tiny house village bills: The council is also expected to approve legislation helping Mayor Wilson’s plan to expand tiny house villages and emergency shelter in the city. One bill on the schedule would expand the Director of Finance and Administrative Services’ authority to execute leases when the land is used for transitional encampment purposes. Another bill on the schedule Tuesday will allow for $4.8 million in unused funding to be redirected to the effort. Legislation to allow the individual villages to be larger in scale is still a work in progress. Low Income Housing Institute officials who run the villages say they are preparing for locations in Seattle with 250 clients. Its existing code of conduct would remain in effect.

$5 A MONTH TO HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE

Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for $5 a month — or choose your level of support