Seattle Passes New Housing Levy

“Seattle voters approved a nearly $1 billion affordable housing measure Tuesday in a vote supporters say underscored the scale of the city’s housing crisis,” writes Heidi Groover in The Seattle Times.

The Seattle Housing Levy was supported by roughly 66 percent of voters. Groover notes that more than two-thirds of the as-yet-uncounted 100,000 ballots would have to vote against the levy for it to fail.

“The levy will raise property taxes to generate $970 million over seven years, replacing an existing levy that expires at the end of 2023,” which is one of the city’s largest sources of affordable housing funding. “Seattle property owners will pay 45 cents per $1,000 of their property’s assessed value to fund the measure.”

Groover outlines how the money will be spent, including roughly $707 million for the construction and rehabilitation of rental homes and $30 million for rental assistance. “Although tax revenues will increase threefold from the previous levy, the number of homes the levy funds will not increase at the same rate. The city blames rising land and construction costs, and plans to fund larger, more expensive rental homes for families.”