Seattle committee recommends passage of grant-acceptance ordinance totaling $47.4 million

The Finance, Native Communities & Tribal Governments Committee recommended passage Wednesday of Council Bill 120970, an ordinance to accept $47,400,000 from non‑city sources and to appropriate $34,300,000 to allow city departments to spend those monies.

The vote was 5-0 in committee; the bill will go to the full City Council at its May 13 meeting. Chair Strauss moved the committee recommendation and an unnamed committee member seconded; the clerk recorded affirmative votes from Council Member Kettle, Council Member Saka, Council President Nelson, Chair Strauss and one other committee member.

Tom Meiksel of Council Central Staff presented the bill for briefing and said the package includes both capital and operating grants. “This is the first comprehensive grant acceptance and appropriation,” Meiksel said, adding that a large share of the funding is for Seattle Department of Transportation capital projects and that $14,800,000 of the total are operating grants.

Central staff explained Seattle’s two‑step process for outside grants: council first accepts the source of funds and then passes an appropriation that allows the executive to spend them. Staff said the appropriations described in the bill are non‑lapsing and remain available until spent or until council takes separate legislation to abandon them.

Committee members did not request substantive changes during the briefing. “This is straightforward,” Chair Strauss said, echoing Council Member Kettle’s assessment. The committee clerk then called the roll and recorded five affirmative votes to forward the bill to the full council.

The full council is scheduled to consider Council Bill 120970 at its May 13 meeting; a committee recommendation does not by itself authorize spending until council adopts the ordinance and the executive signs the related agreements and grant acceptance documents.