The Seattle City Council voted 9 to 0 to send the $970 million Housing Levy to the November ballot for voter approval. The seven-year property tax renewal would help pay for construction and operations of new subsidized affordable housing, affordable homeownership, higher wages for workers in the sector, rental assistance and more.
Of the nearly $1 billion the levy is estimated to generate over seven years, $707 million would pay for construction of more than 3,000 units of subsidized rental housing. The Washington Department of Commerce projects Seattle will need to build 112,000 units of housing by 2044 to meet demand, and more than 64,000 of those units must be affordable to people earning less than 50% of the area median income. As of 2022, 50% of area median income was $51,800 for a two-person household.
Another $112 million will be spent on operations, ongoing maintenance and wages for workers in permanent supportive housing projects for people exiting homelessness. The affordable-housing and homelessness sector has struggled in recent years with high turnover and extended vacancies as workers burn out in the face of challenging work and low wages.
The tax will also provide $50.7 million for low-income homeownership programs; $30 million for rental assistance and other programs to keep low-income residents housed; $30 million to acquire and preserve existing market rate buildings that can be converted into affordable housing; and $60 million for administration costs.
If approved, the Housing Levy would charge $0.45 per $1,000 of assessed value beginning in 2024, costing about $375 per year for the owner of a Seattle home with the current median value of $831,000. Low income seniors, military veterans and residents with disabilities are exempt from local property tax levies, per state law.
Seattle voters have approved the Housing Levy six times since 1986, and approved a similar housing bond measure in 1981. The $970 million 2023 Housing Levy would more than triple the expected draw from the property tax compared to the $290 million 2016 Housing Levy set to expire this year.
Mayor Bruce Harrell proposed the significantly larger levy in March 2023 in recognition of Seattle’s growing and interconnected affordable-housing and homelessness crises.