https://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2025/02/strong-election-night-tallies-show-seattle-set-to-approve-new-business-tax-for-social-housing-plus-two-school-levies/

Strong Election Night tallies show Seattle set to approve new business tax for Social Housing

(Image: House our Neighbors)

A low turnout February election apparently won’t stop Seattle from making progress on funding its new Social Housing Developer and backing the renewal of two school levies.

Election Night first tallies show voters approving a new tax to fund the city’s new housing program and, thus, rejecting a Seattle City Council backed alternative that critics said would have limited the new effort. 68% of voters in the first count approved funding the developer. More than 57.5% said the city should move forward with the new business tax.

With approval, the measure will add a 5% tax on companies for every dollar over a million paid to a Seattle employee in annual compensation including salary, stock, and bonuses to fund the city’s new public Social Housing Developer. The House our Neighbors group behind the salary tax proposal says it would add up to around $50 million a year to fund the development authority and power its ability to borrow to build or acquire 2,000 units of housing over 10 years.

Support for the new tax is outpacing the City Council’s $10 million alternative that would have utilized existing JumpStart funding and limited the Social Housing Developer to offering affordable housing to only the city’s lowest income levels, a restriction social housing advocates say undermines the purpose of the program and hopes of creating affordable housing across multiple tiers of income.

In February 2023, Initiative 135 to create a Seattle social housing developer won handily with 57% of voters approving the proposal. But the program came without funding components because of limitations imposed on the state’s initiative process. Meanwhile, Public Development Authorities do not have taxing authority in Washington.

Last July, the Seattle Social Housing Developer announced its first leader, announcing that Roberto Jimenez has been appointed as its inaugural Chief Executive Officer.

Unlike the existing Seattle Housing Authority which serves only low-income residents, the new social housing authority is free of federal constraints on income levels meaning its housing could be made available to renters with earnings ranging from 0% to 120% of area median income to help create a diverse pool of tenants across its properties.