Seattle Leaders Push Back on Plan to Shortchange City in New Countywide Tax [View all]

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Seattle elected officials are pushing back on an expected King County provision that could result in the city losing out on millions of dollars in funding annually. The 0.1% countywide sales tax proposal would fund transportation investments across the county – although potentially shortchanging Seattle – pending the results of a vote of the King County Council scheduled Friday.

The 0.1% tax hike is being implemented via King County's transportation benefit district with a board made up of all nine King County Councilmembers. It is largely intended to fund the county's unincorporated roads.

King County's road network totals around 1,500 miles and has been underfunded for years with deferred maintenance piling up, even before last year's record-breaking flooding that caused significant damage. Even with acute needs in rural areas, elected officials across King County's cities have been asking for a cut of the new funding stream. A program creating a 12.5% "pass-through" mechanism is expected to make it into the final package.

Tucked into a proposed amendment from County Councilmember Steffanie Fain, who represents South King County, is a 15% cap on the amount any individual city can receive in that new program – a cap that only impacts the City of Seattle, which accounts for around 38% of the county's incorporated population.

https://www.theurbanist.org/seattle-leaders-push-back-on-plan-to-shortchange-city-in-new-countywide-tax/