Olympia council reports: $500,000 seed proposed for affordable‑housing permit fund; transit redesign and opioid‑abatement planning advance

Several council members used the March 18 meeting to report committee activity and regional coordination on economic development, affordable‑housing supports, transit and opioid‑abatement planning.

Finance committee and housing support

Council Member Lisa Gilman, reporting from the finance committee, said committee members discussed scoped research on minimum wage, fair scheduling and workplace safety that will rely on academic research and community voices. Gilman also described a forthcoming proposal tied to the city’s emergency affordable‑housing package: staff will present details on a proposed initial seed of about $500,000 to stand up a fund to help pay permitting costs and otherwise assist affordable‑housing projects. Gilman said the finance committee will present a proposal for priorities and eligibility criteria to the full council.

Tax and revenue analysis

Gilman also summarized staff analysis of a possible change to the city’s business‑and‑occupation (B & O) tax rate (the presentation showed revenue distribution across industries and quadrants of the city); staff told the committee that about 1,700 entities filing B & O tax returns are not physically based inside the city limits.

Transit, regional plans and sea‑level rise

Council Member Mengerone and others reported on regional planning work. Inner City Transit is conducting a system redesign that would increase frequency on higher‑demand corridors and consider restoring service to key routes (an example cited was extending service along Black Lake Road). The Thurston Regional Planning Council (TRPC) is updating a regional transportation plan and future‑conditions assumptions; council members said the region is not on track to meet several long‑range targets (including its Vision Zero‑style pedestrian safety goal and vehicle‑miles‑traveled reductions).

Mengerone and others also reported on sea‑level rise and the LOTT Clean Water Alliance (referred to in committee as LOT/LOTT). Work on the downtown digester upgrade will temporarily close a downtown street for roughly three years while a crane and construction occur; staff have coordinated outreach to food trucks and commercial users and have set weekend access for RV users at the hauled‑waste receiving station. Mengerone said the Anderson permanent supportive‑housing project received a 50% connection fee rebate from LOTT, including about $125,000 from the city’s allotment.

Opioid abatement and other regional coordination

Council Member Cooper said the inaugural meeting of a regional opioid abatement council (Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater and Thurston County) established a body to create a grant program for opioid‑settlement funds. Cooper said the combined funds across jurisdictions total "several million dollars" and the council will next reconcile allowable uses against the local opioid response plan before recommending grant priorities to the full councils.

Port and economic development notes

Mayor Camara Payne described a recent Port of Olympia visit and the arrival of a cargo vessel from Brazil; Payne called the visit an economic development opportunity and said the port is updating its master plan.

City manager update

City Manager Jay Birney said he attended the National League of Cities conference in Washington, D.C., and met with members of the federal delegation; he said staff will follow up with a federal funding update in the coming weeks and that federal lobbyists are working on a spending ask related to the armory.

Ending

Council members asked staff to return with more detail on the proposed housing permit fund, transit redesign impacts, and the regional opioid‑abatement grant timetable. Several members also expressed interest in further briefings on sea‑level rise implementation and the LOTT digester project timeline and traffic impacts.