Seattle voters weigh how to pay for social housing
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Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Seattle voters are faced with competing ballot measures as they decide whether to raise taxes on businesses to pay for public housing projects.
Why it matters: The Feb. 11 special election will determine how much money will go toward the city's new social housing developer, which voters created two years ago through a different ballot measure, I-135.
Catch up quick: Social housing is a type of publicly owned housing that caps rents at 30% of a tenant's annual income.
- People making up to 120% of the area median income can live there, with the goal that higher rents paid by middle-income tenants will help subsidize the lower rents paid by lower-income residents.
- Last year, the median income in Seattle for the purpose of affordable housing programs topped $100,000 for a single person, per city officials.
Zoom in: One measure on the Feb. 11 ballot, Proposition 1A, would enact a new 5% payroll tax on Seattle companies with workers who make at least $1 million a year.
- An employer would pay the 5% tax on the portion of an employee's salary that exceeds $1 million. Businesses would be prohibited from passing the tax on to workers.
- That proposal would raise an estimated $50 million per year.
A second option, Proposition 1B, wouldn't raise any new tax revenue.
- Instead, it would allocate $10 million per year of the city's existing JumpStart payroll tax revenue to the social housing developer, with the plan sunsetting after five years.
- This approach would spend a maximum of $50 million, a fifth of what Proposition 1A would raise over the same five-year period.
How it works: To enact either measure, voters first must select "yes" to indicate they want to pass one of the two competing proposals.
- Then, they can choose whether they are voting for Proposition 1A or Proposition 1B.
- Voters could also answer "no" to the initial question, indicating they'd rather not enact either policy.
Flashback: Supporters of imposing the 5% tax gathered more than 35,000 signatures last year to ensure that Proposition 1A qualified for the ballot.
- But members of the City Council decided to put forth Proposition 1B, with City Councilmember Maritza Rivera arguing the city shouldn't "give a blank check to yet another new agency that does not have the experience creating housing."
What they're saying: Tiffani McCoy of the Proposition 1A campaign told Axios the alternative plan effectively rejects the social housing model that voters approved two years ago, while siphoning money away from other public housing projects.
- She said the mixed-income model is vital to ensure Seattle can be affordable for everyone, including nurses, teachers and other middle-income workers.
The other side: Rachel Smith, president and CEO of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, told the Seattle Channel that the idea behind Proposition 1B is "to use the money for those who need it most" by focusing on people who make up to 80% of the area median income.
What's next: Ballots must be postmarked by Feb. 11 or returned to an official ballot dropbox by 8pm that day to be counted.