Councilmember Strauss releases budget focused on improving safety & affordability for working families

Councilmember Dan Strauss (District 6), Chair of the Select Budget Committee, released his Balancing Package focused on improving safety and affordability for working families in Seattle.

“This budget is about making investments for a safer, more affordable Seattle for working families. As the federal government continues to pursue inflationary economic policies that hurt small businesses and step back from its most basic responsibilities, Seattle is stepping up. From responding to federal chaos, to improving our parks, to keeping the lights on, we are doubling down on the basics of good governance while creating a better tomorrow,” said Councilmember Strauss.

The Balancing Package is put together by the budget chair and serves as the Council’s initial update to the mayor’s proposed budget. It follows six weeks of intensive analysis, collaboration, and conversation with community members.

What’s included in the Balancing Package?

The Seattle City has worked together to create this Balancing Package. A full list of amendments included were just released. Budget Chair Strauss is also releasing a more in-depth blog post outlining proposed changes, including to many other areas not included below.

This budget and Balancing Package represent important investments from the mayor and all nine Councilmembers. It includes:

Affordability

Fighting hunger: In addition to investments included in the mayor’s proposed budget, the Balancing Package includes $4 million to address the federal food emergency caused by the federal government allowing SNAP benefits to lapse. It also includes an additional $375,000 to support food banks, $250,000 for hot meals for seniors, and $200,000 to support farmers markets in food deserts.
Record-high investment in affordable housing: The proposal includes a record-high $349.5 million in affordable housing investments included in the mayor’s proposed budget. That is more than five times the amount the City of Seattle invested in 2019.
Keeping people housed: The Balancing Package expands on investments in rental assistance and homelessness prevention, investing an additional $500,000 in tenant services to help people facing eviction and adds $50,000 to support the work of the Renter’s Commission.
Addressing homelessness: The Balancing Package protects nearly $22 million in new investments in shelter and emergency housing included in the mayor’s proposal, including a $9 million reserve to backfill potential federal cuts. It also invests $2 million more in helping people living in their vehicles enter housing, $1.4 for programs supporting runaway and homeless youth that have had federal funding cuts, and $380,000 for additional outreach.

Public Safety

Drug treatment: In addition to investments in the mayor’s proposal, the package includes $1.25 million to expand mobile teams that help connect people with medications for opioid use disorder and provide follow up care through the ORCA POD program, and $150,000 to help low-income individuals who are exiting in-patient residential treatment.
Seattle Fire Department: The Balancing Package builds on the mayor’s proposal to fund an additional 20-person recruit class and expands Health One, which focuses on non-emergency medical complaints, behavioral health crises, as well as frequent callers and those with social service needs. The package also includes funding for an additional aid car to help firefighters respond faster and more efficiently to emergencies that do not require a ladder truck.
CARE Expansion: The Balancing Package preserves funding included in the mayor’s proposal to double CARE’s Community Crisis Responder Teams and hire additional 911 call takers.
Seattle Police Department: The department’s hiring plan is fully funded, including the record-breaking 170-plus new officers the department plans to hire this year. Additionally, the Balancing Package funds additional mental health professionals to ensure each precinct can deploy a Crisis Response Team and invests more in the 30×30 program, which aims to hire and retain more women police officers.
Community safety programs: The package includes around $2 million additional investments in community-based safety programs, including $500,000 to support survivors at the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center and $500,000 for survivors of gender-based violence.
Investing in neighborhood safety plans: Building on work we started last year, the package preserves $4 million for a new program that will focus on cleanliness, safety, and economic revitalization in locations like Little Saigon and Lake City.

Fiscal Responsibility

Increase the size of the ‘Rainy Day’ Fund: The package includes $4.7 million to right-size the contribution to the Revenue Stabilization Fund, better known as the ‘Rainy Day Fund’ for fiscally sustainability.
Shielding Seattle: The Balancing Package maintains $9 million dollars in a federal reserve to protect shelter and emergency housing funding under threat from the federal government. This week, Councilmember Strauss will look for more opportunities to direct funding to this reserve account to address unforeseen issues caused by the federal government.
Request a report on creating a road map to better address the city’s fiscal sustainability: Requests that the Executive and Legislative branches create shared and easily understood definitions of the variables and factors that contribute to the structural budget deficit, to provide a clear ‘road map’ to fiscal sustainability.

What’s next?

The Budget Committee will meet tomorrow, Nov. 5, at 9:30 a.m. to present and discuss the Balancing Package.

On Thursday, Nov. 6, the Budget Committee will host a public hearing. Remote public comment will begin at 1 p.m., and in-person public comment will begin at 5 p.m.

For a full calendar and explanation of the Council’s budget process, visit our Budget Basics Web page.

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