Federal Way staff says 2% public-art funds must stay with Operations & Maintenance project; recalculated art budget $174,998

Federal Way City Council held a special study session April 1, 2025, to review how the city’s “Art in Public Places” (2% for the arts) requirement applies to the new Operations and Maintenance Facility. Public Works Director EJ Walsh told council the city’s general-obligation bond documents require that funds generated by the project be spent on that property and cannot be transferred off‑site, and staff recalculated the eligible art budget at $174,998.

The session focused on Federal Way Revised Code chapter 4.15, which requires the city to allocate a minimum of 2% of qualifying capital project construction costs for publicly accessible original visual art, and on how the code interacts with the bond documents tied to the maintenance yard. “We cannot supplant money out of the bond documents, or the bond proceeds to spend on a different project off‑site,” Walsh said during his presentation.

Why it matters: the 2% requirement is intended to fund public art on qualifying capital projects; bond restrictions can limit where and how that money may be used. Council members pressed staff on how the 2% was calculated for the maintenance facility, why the available amount fell from earlier figures, and how the Arts Commission and council will participate in artist selection.

Walsh told council the code’s calculation is based on the awarded construction contract value and explicitly excludes land acquisition, demolition and equipment. Staff initially presented a higher figure (2% of the full contract at one point was described as about $810,444), then presented a…