[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",5973546,"mediaKeyId","5842795-7c3bafabfd90c9a6d47affc89a079bc5","parentId",5842795,"title","Council hears plan for 0.1% public-safety sales tax to fund care teams, 911 staff and treatment beds","audioSeconds",1197,"startMs",4330000,"endMs",5527000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5842795-7c3bafabfd90c9a6d47affc89a079bc5&start=4330&end=5527","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5842795-7c3bafabfd90c9a6d47affc89a079bc5/thumbnail_4330000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/5973546/Seattle/King-County/Washington/Council-hears-plan-for-01-public-safety-sales-tax-to-fund-care-teams-911-staff-and-treatment-beds","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/5973546-4eb044a7f2718b6ab52127ced488236f/orig.mp4?Expires=1770442694&Signature=ll-rNT-fDhniXr8Lrlu7pnxokxmZQMomKQC~5dO26lim6yM1d1EGbk20s0mOGVvbDs16OxGl~~LOF7rVt7vQveOF6tRPsjIeI-5k9lWutllZPNAMBvAnABoL6MgPkH~FYGiz09h3bin2MEAwom49rZ8IgF06Sm6WqYE1-qVJqisflPNWc-rcLzdt9tk7~BPc8UgVgAVswDWgyndlKOdfQzRZ-rbiTy4yUC1Y~MX7mv2FoGH8IRv4bDXaO87ZPYr-bZJi8smz-jxEhsWksgLRnqw4tyHKI1mqfnqfJhf9RXJXTBbLXrq~9~dcFUe9I0-5uHWCNaCEExbsyXCiQBk21w__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Seattle City, WA","date","2025-09-26T00:00:00Z","article","Seattle officials on Sept. 25 detailed a proposal to adopt a state-authorized 0.1% local sales tax earmarked for public-safety purposes, saying the levy would raise about $39 million in 2026 and support a mix of first-response, alternative-response and treatment investments.
Central staff warned the committee the tax must be adopted by mid-October to meet Department of Revenue implementation deadlines and that the state enabling law does not contain a non-supplantation clause, meaning proceeds could be used to replace existing local funding as well as for new spending.
Tom Mikesell of the City Budget Office described the legal and timing constraints: “Chapter 350, Laws of 2025 passed by the state legislature provided for a 0.1% councilmanic tax,” he said, adding that the tax would raise an estimated $39,000,000 in 2026 and must be adopted by Oct. 14 for full-year 2026 collection. Mikesell stressed the sales-tax increase would be regressive, that household food purchases for home consumption are exempt, and that the city’s October revenue forecast could change the estimate.
The mayor’s package, and the executive’s proposed use of the revenue, emphasizes a “holistic” approach to public safety, combining traditional emergency response with public-health and diversion investments. Natalie Walton Anderson, the city’s chief public-safety officer, described the proposal as a way to “expand our diversified response system,” including a planned doubling of the CARE (community crisis responders) team.
Key proposed investments presented to the committee included:
- CARE expansion: $6,900,000 to double the CARE teams from the current staffing to 48 crisis responders, plus supervisors and management, and to expand dispatch hours toward a 20-hour-per-day citywide footprint.
- 911 capacity: $2,600,000 to hire 12 additional call takers, create three training positions and make three business-support positions permanent to reduce mandated overtime and improve non-emergency call response.
- Seattle Fire Department: $2,000,000 to hire and train 20 firefighter recruits to reduce vacancies and reliance on overtime.
- Overdose and treatment system: $1,500,000 to expand the Fire Department’s post-overdose team to seven-day operations; $1,200,000 to expand DESC/ORCA outreach pods; $2,840,000 for a competitive selection process to secure detox or inpatient treatment beds; and $1,800,000 to support reopening Thunderbird Treatment Center (Seattle Indian Health Board), a 92-bed residential program.
- LEAD and diversion funding: a multi-million-dollar package to stabilize and expand LEAD (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion) programming; the executive presented approximately $14.5 million for core diversion services and additional co-lead funding that together approach $20 million for diversion and connected supports.
Sarah Smith in the mayor’s office detailed the overdose-response ecosystem, noting Health 99 and related teams have played an active role in connecting people to care. “This team has responded to over 1,400 overdoses,” Smith said, and she described several examples in which rapid field response coupled with ORCA and follow-up navigation led to same-day medication and linkage to supports.
Central staff and the executive also laid out fiscal context and risks. Budget Office staff noted the city’s general-fund financial plan projects a structural deficit beginning in 2027 (roughly $140 million under the presented plan) and cautioned that adopting the sales tax would change the revenue mix going into that planning horizon. Tom Mikesell emphasized that the October revenue forecast — to be delivered in the coming weeks — could downgrade revenue expectations and that the state’s recent revenue outlook was weaker.
Council members broadly expressed support for components of the package while asking for details. Committee chair Strauss and Public Safety Committee chair Bob Kettle praised the integrated approach and stressed the need for capacity where people go after first contact. Councilmembers asked how success will be measured for CARE, how the CARE expansion will be staffed and dispatched citywide, whether the proposed CARE hours will reach 24/7 or a 20-hour model, and for a clearer accounting of how much of the diversion and LEAD funding sustains existing contracts versus funds new capacity.
The record shows the budget team intends to return to the committee with operational details: hiring and training plans for 911 and CARE, outcome metrics for CARE and LEAD, and a clearer breakdown of one-time versus ongoing dollars used to stabilize diversion services. Mikesell reiterated the adoption deadline: to collect the full calendar-year 2026 revenue the council must adopt the ordinance authorizing the tax by mid-October.
The committee also discussed equity and regressivity: central staff noted sales taxes are regressive and stressed that grocery purchases for home consumption are exempt; councilmembers asked staff to weigh the equity trade-offs and to consider coordination with the county (which has a related tax conversation underway). The council did not vote on the tax at the Sept. 25 briefing; the ordinance was transmitted by the executive earlier in September and the council is scheduled to take up final action in October.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Select Budget Committee Session II 9/25/25","oneSentenceSummary","City and central staff briefed the Select Budget Committee on a state-authorized 0.1% sales tax that would raise about $39 million in 2026 for a package of public-safety investments including doubling community crisis responders (CARE), adding 911 call takers, 20 fire recruits, expanded overdose response and funding for LEAD diversion programs.","taxTitle","Seattle, King County, Washington","taxId",2543,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},5973553,"Seattle officials outline $30 million federal-backfill plan for food, housing and immigrant services",4192,132000,4324000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5842795-7c3bafabfd90c9a6d47affc89a079bc5&start=132&end=4324","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5842795-7c3bafabfd90c9a6d47affc89a079bc5/thumbnail_132000.jpg","/articles/5973553/Seattle/King-County/Washington/Seattle-officials-outline-30-million-federal-backfill-plan-for-food-housing-and-immigrant-services","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/5973553-d6b79603633c45d8089cd4cac863ce83/orig.mp4?Expires=1770414965&Signature=n2~JOk0KyHqZ9utQeFwX4ep-BS3UsZcRKDFh-AmzIU2XHARjIR1nqmT9NL3hxN35pqPAdxenhvCOG8IyWGxeIHb4aADGwiVE6rW~rsA8PPugMDUYeE-XACGZlT93tP2vzG7LO9gB2ucrmw3jfV4tdn~FVUJhljhG94UggTd7PT~Sbup5Z7e3-QgQySlDmOgMDONG7PF-~blzCNrQVOA~FKXHxwOiKUzBOERUAhVdcbBuh80-6X9MXCNN7ODJiu27ox0wMJQOfZIF2BeDWM~yngsd43lKUhoKqA5UOoxRnQA8uOkiVh6rLuWR13UErgG~QqhBEqZnN30TbOHrtfxfbw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Seattle officials on Sept. 25 told the City Council’s Select Budget Committee they are proposing to use up to $30 million in proceeds from the proposed business-and-occupation (B&O) tax to protect local food access, housing and immigrant and refugee services from likely federal cuts.
The proposal, presented by Deputy Mayor Greg Wong and department directors, would direct the money into three priority “buckets”: food access, housing and shelter services, and immigrant and refugee supports. Wong said the proposal is a risk assessment rather than a precise prediction of federal actions: “We are not dealing with a, necessarily logical or coherent federal government at this time.”
The funding matters because city leaders say federal proposals and agency actions could sharply reduce assistance that many Seattle residents rely on. The executive’s package would expand the Fresh Bucks program, increase funds for food banks and prepared-meal programs, add emergency rental assistance and a reserve for shelter, and enlarge legal and workforce supports for immigrant and refugee communities.
Deputy Mayor Greg Wong framed the work as a near-term mitigation strategy tied to the Seattle Shield Initiative, the B&O-tax-funded program the council forwarded to voters. He told the committee the third B&O “bucket” could provide “up to $30,000,000 in proceeds that may be used to mitigate the impact of federal funding decisions.”
Office of Sustainability and Environment interim director Michelle Caulfield described the proposed Fresh Bucks changes: the program currently serves about 12,000 residents with a $40-per-month benefit and has a waitlist of more than 4,000 households. The mayor’s proposed budget would expand program capacity and raise the monthly benefit to $60. “Fresh Bucks reaches residents disproportionately burdened by poverty, food insecurity, and diet related chronic diseases,” Caulfield said, citing a University of Washington evaluation showing higher food security and fruit-and-vegetable consumption among Fresh Bucks participants.
Human Services Department Director Tanya Kim detailed other food investments. The executive proposes a $3,000,000 addition for food banks and $1,000,000 for meal providers, bringing HSD’s food-and-nutrition portfolio to about $30,000,000 — a roughly 16% increase from the 2025 adopted budget, Kim said. She told the committee food banks now operate as community hubs offering mobile pantries, home deliveries and grocery access.
On housing and shelter, Kim said the mayor’s package adds $4,000,000 for emergency rental assistance — bringing the city’s total rental-assistance capacity to $11,500,000 — and proposes a $9,000,000 appropriated reserve to allow rapid local backfill if federal shelter or Continuum of Care funding is reduced. Kim cited the King County Continuum of Care as an example of an award potentially at risk and noted the city has already filed legal challenges to some federal actions.
Hamdi Mohammed, director of the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs (OIRA), described threats to programs that support naturalization, legal representation for unaccompanied minors and other services. He told the committee the president’s 2026 budget proposal would eliminate the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program nationally and warned of cuts to legal-orientation and immigrant-defense funding. “We are seeing federal policy changes that are dismantling vital programs that serve our immigrant and refugee communities,” Mohammed said.
Mohammed and budget staff said some local mitigation is already in place. The council previously approved a $300,000 midyear supplemental for immigrant legal defense and “know your rights” trainings; OIRA said $200,000 of that was put into a request-for-proposals (RFP) for legal defense and $100,000 for rights trainings. Mohammed noted OIRA’s ongoing base appropriation for legal defense is $1,300,000 annually, bringing the office’s current legal-defense funding this year to $1,600,000 with the supplemental.
Council members pressed for more detail on who would be affected and how the city would allocate the funds. Councilmember Teresa Rivera asked why only $300,000 of the supplemental was directed to legal defense; Mohammed and Budget Director Dan Eder replied that the $300,000 was the supplemental for 2025, that $200,000 was RFP’d to legal defense immediately, and that the mayor’s 2026 proposal (roughly $3,700,000 for immigrant-related investments) would likely include a larger share for legal services after further community listening and a competitive process.
Council members also asked for a clearer accounting of CDBG-exposed programs and which city services rely on those federal dollars. Deputy Mayor Wong and director-level staff said they would provide more detail to the committee on CDBG exposures and the proposed allocations.
The presentation included several quantified clarifications: Fresh Bucks serves 12,000 households and has a 4,000-household waitlist; the executive proposes boosting the Fresh Bucks benefit from $40 to $60 per month; HSD’s food-and-nutrition portfolio would rise to approximately $30,000,000; the rental-assistance funding increase would bring the city’s total to $11,500,000 and the proposed emergency reserve is $9,000,000; OIRA reported current legal-defense funding at $1,300,000 plus a $300,000 supplemental, for $1,600,000 in 2025 pending 2026 allocations.
Next steps: council members asked the executive to supply a breakdown of CDBG impacts and a fuller accounting of legal-defense funding sources and planned 2026 allocations. Officials said they will follow up with detailed spend plans and RFP timelines if the B&O tax passes and the backfill monies become available.","City officials briefed the Select Budget Committee on a plan to use up to $30 million from the proposed B&O tax proceeds to mitigate likely federal funding cuts to SNAP, housing and immigrant-serving programs, proposing funding increases to Fresh Bucks, food banks, emergency rental assistance and legal defense for immigrants.","actionData","errors"]

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Council hears plan for 0.1% public-safety sales tax to fund care teams, 911 staff and treatment beds

Seattle officials outline $30 million federal-backfill plan for food, housing and immigrant services