Chris Grygiel points us to the letter sent this morning from a host of leading business groups to Mayor Mike McGinn (.pdf), requesting that he not raise taxes despite a $67 million projected budget shortfall next year:

In April, over two dozen representatives of Seattle employers wrote to urge you to refrain from increasing existing taxes and proposing new taxes to balance the City’s 2010 and 2011 budgets. We believe that burdening employers with additional taxes will slow economic recovery in Seattle.

The top suggestion is to "recoup a higher percentage of parking fines: As first reported by KIRO TV, the City of Seattle is owed $52 million in unpaid parking tickets." We won't be able to collect all that money in time for next year's budget—maybe a small portion of it—but that's a starting point. The second suggestion?

Prioritize the Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall Replacement Program ... The replacement of the Seawall should be funded principally through a city-wide tax source.

Please note: We should save the city money (and avoid increasing taxes) by launching into the most expensive mega-project in the city's history—with unreliable outside funding—and it should be "funded principally through a city-wide tax source." As a way to avoid increasing taxes. Got it.

The group also calls to prioritize public safety funding, use private contractors for certain city services, and increase furloughs.