The Seattle City Council unanimously approved legislation today, co-sponsored by Councilmember Dan Strauss (District 6) and Councilmember Dionne Foster (Position 9), to fulfill the will of Seattle voters and begin funding the Seattle Social Housing Developer.

Seattle voters approved Proposition 1A in February 2025, with more than 63 percent voting in favor, to help combat the housing affordability crisis we face in our city. The proceeds from Prop 1A create an ongoing revenue source for the Seattle Social Housing Developer (SSHD). The bill approved today is the final legislative step necessary to start transferring revenue to the developer. 

“This is a historic moment for housing affordability in Seattle. With today’s vote, we are fulfilling the will of the voters and making a major, ongoing investment in permanently affordable, publicly owned social housing. Between this investment and the additional $350 million we secured in this year’s budget to build more affordable housing, Seattle is on track to make record-shattering investments in housing in 2026,” said Councilmember Strauss.  

“Far too many families in Seattle are being priced out of the city they love because of the skyrocketing cost of housing. As a city, we have always led the region in finding innovative tools to expand the supply of affordable housing, and social housing is an important lever to pull to lower housing costs and provide families with stability. This legislation is a key step to ensuring the Social Housing Developer is able to deliver on the promise of permanently affordable housing,” said Councilmember Foster.  

“This revenue will allow us to begin the process of acquiring our first building, and house hundreds of Seattleites this year alone. We plan to house people at a variety of income levels as quickly as possible and intend to use our dollars carefully to be able to do just that. We are grateful for the support of the mayor, the city council and the trust of the public, whom we look forward to serving,” said Tiffani McCoy, Interim CEO of Seattle Social Housing.

Background

Seattle Social Housing is an innovative public development authority created by voters. Its mission is to develop, own, lease and maintain mixed income housing that is permanently affordable, owned as a public asset forever, and designed for people priced out of market-rate housing.   

Proposition 1A funds social housing by charging employers, not employees, a 5 percent tax on annual compensation above $1 million. That revenue is used to support SSHD’s work to create and maintain publicly owned, permanently affordable housing. 

The City of Seattle began collecting the first Prop 1A payments from employers for the 2025 tax year this January.

What’s next? 

Councilmember Strauss, as finance chair, also sponsored legislation in July 2025 to provide a $2 million bridge loan to SSHD to ensure the developer was supported to hit the ground running when they started receiving Prop 1A funding this year. That loan will be paid back with the new funding.  

Councilmember Foster, as chair of the Housing, Arts, & Civil Rights Committee, will continue the Council’s work to support social housing in Seattle. Her committee is scheduled to host SSHD for a status update tomorrow, Wednesday, February 11.  

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