SEATTLE – Today, Councilmember Bob Kettle (District 7) commended Mayor Katie Wilson for releasing a proposed budget without imposing additional taxes but raised concerns that potential cuts to public safety could hurt Seattle’s hard-fought progress. Councilmember Kettle, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, flagged these issues after Friday’s initial budget briefing to the council on community safety services.

“I commend Mayor Wilson for delivering a budget proposal that avoids raising taxes on Seattle residents during a time where affordability is on everyone’s minds, and I appreciate the tough fiscal situation her staff and the city has been thrust into. However, capping our police staffing levels at numbers not seen in over 15 years poses a direct threat to our public safety posture and leaves our deployable force stretched unacceptably thin relative to our city’s growing population,” said Councilmember Kettle.

“My commitment is to work collaboratively with the mayor and my council colleagues to learn more about the details of this proposal as we go through the budget process. Together, I believe we can explore responsible adjustments so we can ensure our staffing needs are met and set Seattle up for success in the future and beyond,” noted Councilmember Kettle. 

Sparking concern were the following issues flagged by council staff in an initial analysis of the mayor’s budget:   

• Major police hiring reduction: Decreases hiring by 12% in 2027 (128 hires) and 46% in 2028 (79 hires) relative to 2026 baseline hiring (145 hires).  

• Stalled police officer growth: Provides 43 net new hires in 2027 but calibrates 2028 for zero net new hires (with sustainment and replacement hires only).  

• Low deployable officer projections: The 1,250 funded full-time employee cap translates only to an estimated 1,151 fully trained officers and 1,102 deployable officers by year-end 2028 due to field training pipeline bottlenecks. 

In 2012, Seattle, with a population of 600,000, had 1,272 officers and 1,235 deployable officers which was a ratio of roughly 2 officers per 1,000 residents. In 2026, with over 200,000 more people and a population of 823,000, the City’s police staff is capped under the mayor’s budget at 1,151 fully trained officers, or 1.4 officers per 1,000 residents. For perspective, according to the FBI, comparable large urban centers had at least 2.5 officers per 1,000 residents in 2019.    

Next steps

Last week, Mayor Wilson presented her proposed $9.1 billion budget to the City Council. Over the next two months, the Select Budget Committee will review, amend, and finalize a balanced 2027-2028 city budget. Adoption normally takes place in late November.  

Community members are strongly encouraged to participate in the budget process. Public hearings are scheduled for Oct. 6, and Nov. 5. A complete list of ways residents can weigh in, in addition to background and meeting materials, is available on the council’s Budget Basics page. 

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