(The Center Square) – Seattle City Council members approved an ambitious plan Tuesday focusing on increasing bus service in the city, but more transit service will come at a price.
If voters go along with the council’s decision on Tuesday to increase the sales tax to pay for more public transit, the city will have the highest sales tax in the state and be among the highest in the country.
Tuesday’s approval by the council puts the transit levy on the November ballot.
The plan approved by the City Council at the request of Mayor Katie Wilson will ask residents to double the existing transit-dedicated sales tax from 0.15% to 0.3% – adding 30 cents in taxes for every $100 spent.
“Together, we’ve put forward a balanced measure that invests in the people who rely on transit every day, and prepares Seattle for a cleaner, more accessible future,” said Councilman Rob Saka, who sponsored the transit measure on Tuesday.
The plan was passed unanimously by council members, but Councilman Bob Kettle continued to express concern about the overall cost of the plan.
“Yes, I support public transit,” he said. “But we need to be mindful of the affordability effect plus city and county action affecting property taxes,” he said.
An attempt by Kettle to scale back the tax rate hike from 0.3% to 0.225% failed to garner any support last week as council members debated the transit plan.
Kettle pointed out that taxes are being passed individually, without any comprehensive review of their effect on residents, and raised concerns over the cumulative financial burden placed on residents.
The state sales tax is 6.50%. When different county and city levies are added to pay for road improvements, public safety, and the new transit levy, the total tax rate would be 10.7% in Seattle.
Not only would the sales taxes be the highest in Washington, it also would be the highest in the U.S. among major cities, according to the Tax Foundation.
But on Tuesday, council members lauded providing more public transit service in Seattle, not the extra cost to taxpayers.
The mayor’s plan significantly expands bus service in Seattle, which is operated by King County.
During a marathon four-hour session last week to evaluate dozens of proposed changes, council members, operating as the Seattle Transportation Benefit District committee, largely maintained Wilson’s original blueprint.
They also rejected a measure led by Saka to shorten the measure’s lifespan from 10 years to seven. Saka had argued that shorter windows allow future councils to reassess spending priorities.
The defeat came after city staff confirmed the council already retains authority to lower the tax or shorten its duration at a later date.
If approved by voters on the upcoming November ballot, the 10-year measure is projected to raise approximately $1.4 billion, averaging $138 million annually.
The vast majority of those funds – roughly $96 million per year – will be dedicated to expanding bus routes, specifically targeting underserved and lower-income neighborhoods, while maintaining current service levels.
The mayor and council members used an “equity focus” to determine which communities got more service, with the aim of increasing services to areas where there is less car ownership and poorer residents.
The idea is that more bus service will increase access to jobs and other opportunities for low-income Seattle residents.
The proposal also sets aside key funding for other transit initiatives.
They include $23 million annually to operate the First Hill and South Lake Union streetcars, $9 million annually for Transit Access Programs, which provide reduced-fare and subsidized transit cards to lower-income residents and $3.5 million annually for infrastructure improvements aimed at reducing bus bottlenecks and upgrading transit stops.
Transit plan supporters Tuesday argued that investing in robust public transportation provides long-term financial relief for working families.
Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck noted that reliable public transit offers a critical alternative to car ownership, which averages thousands of dollars per year per household.
If history is any guide, Seattle voters will approve the transit plan by a high margin. Six years ago, 4 out of 5 voters approved the previous transit levy.
Several hundred speakers spoke over the last several weeks at public hearings in support of more public transit, regardless of the added cost.