Seattle voters weigh massive $1.5 billion transportation levy for taxpayers

Seattle homeowners may soon be paying an average of $546 a year in order to cover expenses related to the city’s transportation needs.

Mayor Bruce Harrell approved a $1.5 billion transportation bill, the largest tax proposal in the city’s history, leaving it up to voters to decide in the November election.

“Yes, that’s a lot of money, but [the levy is for] the treasures, and the payoff, and the benefits for our children and our grandchildren,” Harrell said at a Wednesday press conference.

The levy, which is expected to last eight years, will cover the costs of building sidewalks, paving streets, repairing bridges, and improving transit connections.

The current levy, which expires at the end of 2024, costs residents around $300 on their property tax bill. It is responsible for around 30% of the Seattle Department of Transportation’s budget.

The largest sum of the money, $430 million to be exact, will go toward street maintenance and modernization. Of those funds, $330 million will go toward arterial roadway maintenance, which would repave 15 major corridors.

The city will allocate $193 million on pedestrian safety, and $160.5 million on Vision Zero, school and neighborhood safety programs.

City council members had previously signed an amendment which would allocate $20 million in funding to complete the gap in the Burke Gilman Trail.

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However, some have expressed concern that this tax levy may be too massive to manage.

“This troublesome transportation tax increase is like the Titanic — too big, hardest on the poor, and destined to fail everyone,” former Seattle City Councilman Alex Pedersen said in a statement. “It’s insensitive for politicians to act like cheerleaders for such a massive transportation tax increase while renters, homeowners, and small businesses struggle to stay in Seattle.”