(The Center Square) – Seattle voters approved the city’s latest levy on Tuesday, with 72.6% backing a proposal to double the transit sales tax rate, costing another $29 annually for a two-person household.
King County is processing the remaining votes, but the levy is anticipated to pass and would increase the city’s transit sales tax rate from 0.15% to 0.3%. The current rate expires in 2027, and city officials say the 10-year renewal will raise $138 million annually, doubling the cost for a median two-person household to $58.
The levy would lift Seattle’s sales tax rate to 10.8% in 2027, continuing the trend of the city having among the highest sales tax rate nationwide.
“This measure will deliver the largest expansion of transit service in our city’s history, double the low-income transit passes available to Seattleites, and provide resources for faster and more reliable service.” Mayor Katie Wilson said in a statement Tuesday night. “Together, these investments make transit, our most affordable and sustainable transportation option, an even more irresistible choice.”
Charles Prestrud, director of transportation policy at the Washington Policy Center, disagrees. He said his analysis – dividing the $138 million by the city’s 393,135 households – puts the annual price per household at about $351; however, that assumes businesses, tourists and other visitors won’t pay any of it.
Prestrud said the city’s estimate likely accounts for businesses’ expenses, tourism revenue and people passing through the city on their way to work. He argued that businesses could pass the burden on to consumers and employees, and said less than 10% of the city’s sales tax revenue is from visitors.
According to state data, Seattle had $34.28 billion in taxable retail sales in 2024, meaning 10% would amount to $3.4 billion in taxable tourist revenue within city limits. Visit Seattle reported $8.8 billion in visitor spending in 2024 for King County and Seattle, generating $839 million in state and local taxes.
“So they should be focusing more on the cost side of the equation instead of just continually asking for more revenue,” Prestrud told The Center Square on Wednesday, referring to a significant portion of the levy flowing to King County Metro, with some assisting Sound Transit, as both face budget challenges.
Seattle plans to spend $94.6 million annually from the levy on Metro’s bus services; $23.4 million on streetcars; $9 million on transit access programs and education; $6.1 million for city staff positions to support a Sound Transit system expansion approved in 2016; and $5 million on transit infrastructure.
In return, the Seattle Department of Transportation says taxpayers will get more midday, night and weekend bus service, amounting to an estimated 95,000 additional trips, and 22,000 ORCA passes.
“Voters said yes to better transit, and we’re grateful to everyone who made it happen,” SDOT Acting Director Angela Brady wrote in a Tuesday statement. “Frequent, all-hours service is one of the best ways we have to make Seattle more affordable and convenient for anyone who wants to live here.”
King County Metro faces a massive reserve shortfall in the years ahead that could lead officials to put another tax hike on the ballot. Prestrud said Metro’s operating costs are rising faster than ridership as some skip paying altogether, with bus fare recovery dropping from 23.8% in 2019 to 8.6% in 2024.
Over the same period, Metro’s bus operating costs rose from $684 million to $855 million, even as annual boardings fell from 121.4 million to 83.3 million. Cost per boarding increased from $5.63 to $10.26 from 2019 to 2024; however, these are countywide Metro bus costs, not specific to Seattle.
“The number of bus riders per hour of service has been trending down for a long time, so we’re not gaining from it,” Prestrud said. “We’re paying a high price and not receiving commensurate benefits.”
Metro reported 63 million boardings from January to August 2025, roughly 4.5 million more than the same period in 2024. Still, that’s countywide, and SDOT reported that only 15% of people used public transit as their main way of getting to work in 2024; 41% drove alone, and 25% worked from home.
Regardless, everyone pays the transit sales tax at the register, whether they use public transit or not.
Prestrud criticized the decision to give out 22,000 ORCA passes, since it could impact fare recovery, which is fare revenue divided by passenger-related operating costs. He also called subsidizing city staff to assist Sound Transit planning work a bad idea, since the agency levies its own taxes for its budget.
“The city shouldn’t be paying for that,” he told The Center Square. “Those are Sound Transit projects.”
Several expansion projects under the Sound Transit 3 system plan, approved by voters in 2016, will land in the Seattle area, but some have faced repeated delays, which city officials want to speed up.
Prestrud thinks Seattle is better off using the money for infrastructure maintenance, arguing that it could provide a higher return by benefiting nearly everyone, not just public transit users.
Seattle voters already approved a separate $1.55 billion transportation levy in 2024, which includes funding for maintenance. That levy also funded a task force to explore additional revenue options for long-term transportation infrastructure needs, which could lead to more tax and fee hikes.
“A strong transit system helps make our region more connected, affordable, accessible and economically competitive. That benefits everyone in King County-even people who don’t ride Metro,” Michelle Allison, general manager of King County Metro, wrote in a Tuesday statement. “Passage of this measure shows that riders support the great bus service they have and want even more.”
King County Elections will process more ballots in the coming days and weeks.