Budget Public Hearing, Two Sessions: Everyone Wants More and the Fight Is Over SPD’s $68M

Nearly five hours of public comment on Oct. 6 called on Council to add shelter, arts, tenant and fire fighters’ overtime funding to the Mayor’s proposed budget, with disagreement over where the money would come from.

Editor’s Note: Italicized NOTE items flag where speaker claims differ from proposed budget documents and published reporting. Where applicable, the specific public hearing session is identified; otherwise both sessions are provided for reference: Seattle Channel, Session I Seattle Channel, Session II

Mayor Katie Wilson’s 2027–28 proposal closes a roughly $175M deficit with no new taxes. Fox 13 It holds $37M for a shelter expansion and raises SPD by $68M to fund 1,250 officers. Proposed Budget, p. 18

Tenant services was the most repeated ask in the afternoon session: at least $500K added to the Mayor’s proposal, plus the full $11 rental registration fee with no exemptions. It came from the Tenants Union, Housing Justice Project attorneys, the Washington Housing Alliance and others, who argued that eviction prevention costs less than housing the homeless. HJP said eviction cases in King County have run 800 to 900 a month since March (speaker claim). The Housing Development Consortium (HDC) asked for a resolution to restore 62% of payroll expense tax revenue to affordable housing, which it called the original JumpStart plan, against just over 30% now. Several speakers asked Council to protect the Equitable Development Initiative’s $26M a year from being raided. Seattle Channel, Session I

NOTE: The Proposed Budget says the plan sustains the Mayor’s commitment that at least 30% of annual JumpStart tax revenue goes to the Office of Housing. Proposed Budget, p. 669

The Mayor’s roughly $37M shelter expansion had the largest and best organized backing across both sessions, including the Downtown Seattle Association, LIHI, Mary’s Place (which asked to keep two family shelters), West Seattle Junction, Neighborhood House and the Seattle King County Coalition on Homelessness. In-person public comment included shelter residents and staff from Everyone Deserves Housing, Purpose. Dignity. Action. Policy Director Sam Wolff, and ambassadors from the Metropolitan Improvement District, some of them formerly homeless. Several speakers repeated that the Pioneer Square Streets to Housing project placed 87% of individuals in shelter or housing (speaker claim).

Other requests were funding for the Shelter Accelerator, wage equity for human services workers, and contingency money against federal cuts. Alison Eisinger, director of the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness, backed the shelter money but said “I don’t like this budget very much,” while understanding its “small c conservative” approach. She asked Council to find an additional $400,000 or $600,000 to protect existing housing, shelter and services and to prevent homelessness. Seattle Channel, Session I Seattle Channel, Session II

On police, speakers split along familiar lines. Former Councilmember Sawant’s group, Workers Strike Back, Seattle DSA, and the United Front for a Workers Party delivered a coordinated message: no SPD increase, no layoffs, expand the “Amazon tax” (vintage for the JumpStart Payroll Expense Tax). They also said the budget raises SPD by $68M while cutting affordable housing by $65M.

NOTE: Several speakers called a $65M figure a housing “cut.” The Proposed Budget describes freeing up $65M in one-time fund balance in the JumpStart Payroll Expense Tax Fund by abandoning 2026 Office of Housing appropriations, and says the office’s $140.2M JumpStart allocation is preserved. Proposed Budget, pp. 16, 17, 227

Others pointed to the $13M SPD overpayment and the 66 new officers; one speaker, citing years as a budget analyst, put their cost at about $8M over the budget cycle and called the number 66 a “SWAG” (slang for a rough guess). Speakers also asked Council to fund 14 CARE crisis responder positions. NOTE: The Proposed Budget eliminates funding for those 14 positions, all of which are vacant, saving about $2.3M, and keeps 34 responders funded. Proposed Budget, pp. 15, 287

On the other side, the Chamber urged Council to preserve the pathway to 1,250 officers, and the Downtown Seattle Association supported the 13% SPD increase.

Seattle Channel, Session I Seattle Channel, Session II

Arts advocates told  Council to reserve 10% of B&O tax revenue (so-called “Seattle Shield”) for arts and culture, reject the admissions tax reallocation, and restore $1.5M to the Office of Arts & Culture. A second group asked for $8M from SPD for arts, citing an open letter with 800+ signers. Seattle Channel, Session I Seattle Channel, Session II

Two groups of city workers spoke against cuts. IAFF Local 27 fire fighters opposed the $7.1M fire overtime cut and said it would take six units out of service daily. PROTEC17 and an SDCI inspector opposed layoffs, with the inspector suggesting the MHA fee holiday (a proposal withdrawn by the mayor earlier this year and recently resurrected by CM Foster) as a way to bring in more permit revenue. Seattle Channel, Session I Seattle Channel, Session II

Commissioners from several city bodies, including the Disability Commission co-chair, objected to a $26,500 cut to accessibility funding. Other speakers asked for $440K for ranked choice voting education, a permanent $1M for meal programs, gender-based violence services with no new money, senior centers and the Waterfront shuttle. Seattle Channel, Session I Seattle Channel, Session

The Mayor was criticized from the left for proposing no new revenue, and the point came up in both sessions. In Session I, a speaker asked Council to redirect the $30M spent on sweeps to permanent supportive housing and to create progressive revenue, and the Coalition on Homelessness said it looks forward to working with Council on raising it as 2028 approaches. On the other side, CREDO (the Commercial Real Estate Development Association of Washington State) thanked the Mayor for avoiding new taxes and urged Council to keep reserves and a sustainable fiscal strategy. Seattle Channel, Session I

In Session II, speakers from Workers Strike Back and other groups called for expanding the “Amazon tax” or raising JumpStart payroll taxes, and one quoted the Mayor saying there are no good options to raise more progressive revenue without great risks, calling that untrue. Seattle Channel, Session II

A few commenters voiced more general budget criticisms. criticized the budget more generally. One argued the budget should be built around system bottlenecks rather than department by department. Walter Hatch of the Ballard Task Force called the current setup a “nonprofits first” system of 150 to 200 uncoordinated nonprofits with no real housing-first plan. Public comment also included personal insults aimed at Councilmembers. Seattle Channel, Session I Seattle Channel, Session II

KEY STATS

1. SPD: +$68M (13.9%) to $556M; funds 1,250 officers, 66 more than 2026.  Proposed Budget, p. 18
2. Shelter: $37M to stand up nearly 1,000 units by end of 2027; about 960 beds, about $18M new and $19M reallocated, per KOMO.  Proposed Budget, p. 17KOMO
3. Fire: $7.1M overtime cut in a $346M department budget  Proposed Budget, p. 18; IAFF Local 27 says six units would go out of service daily (union claim). KIRO 7
4. Positions: 128 eliminated citywide, 15 of them filled and expected to mean layoffs.  Proposed Budget, p. 16
5. Tenant services: at least $500K added plus the full $11 rental registration fee; the most repeated ask in Session I. HJP: 800 to 900 eviction cases a month since March (speaker claim). Seattle Channel, Session I
6. Housing share of JumpStart: one speaker group asked to restore 62% to affordable housing; just over 30% now (speaker claim). The budget book commits to at least 30%. Proposed Budget, p. 669
7. Equitable Development Initiative: speakers asked Council to protect $26M a year. Seattle Channel, Session I
8. Arts: 10% of Shield Seattle, $1.5M admissions tax restored, and $8M from SPD (open letter, 800+ signers). All speaker asks. Seattle Channel, Session I Seattle Channel, Session II
9. Accessibility: $26,500 cut to Disability Commission funding opposed (speaker claim). Seattle Channel, Session I
10. Other asks: $440K for ranked choice voting education, a permanent $1M for meal programs, 14 CARE positions, the Waterfront shuttle. Seattle Channel, Session I Seattle Channel, Session II