Yes, this is a huge levy. At $930 million, it’s the biggest one in Seattle’s history. The city estimates it will increase property taxes for the median Seattle homeowner by about $145 a year or $12 a month.
And yes, property tax levies are inherently problematic and we’re sick of paying for everything with them. We’ve already endorsed—what—40 or 50 property tax levies in this one batch of endorsements? Yes, yes: We know property tax increases affect both homeowners and low-income renters whose landlords pass the costs down to them. We wish this levy included some other sources of funding, like the business and parking taxes city council members Kshama Sawant and Nick Licata pushed for. But the rest of the city council blocked that effort, telling us they’re saving those other taxes for some other needs. What the hell are those? NO ONE KNOWS. So this is what we’re stuck with.
The problem is that we still need the stuff this levy is going to pay for—and we can’t afford to wait.
