Protect the Payroll Expense Tax!

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TAKE ACTION: Protect housing's share of the Payroll Expense Tax!

What’s happening

City Council is finalizing Seattle’s 2027-2028 budget, and affordable housing advocacy is making a difference. Council is moving to add $10 million for affordable housing: $5 million in the Chair’s Balancing Package, plus a $5 million proviso from Councilmembers Foster and Hollingsworth for projects that advance racial equity and address displacement. The biggest long-term question is still open. Will Council commit to a plan to restore the Payroll Expense Tax’s promise to affordable housing? Council votes on the remaining housing amendments starting Friday, November 13.

Why this matters

The Payroll Expense Tax (PET), also known as JumpStart, was created to build affordable homes and keep communities rooted in place. Its original spending plan dedicated 62% of revenue to affordable housing. City housing investments, made possible in large part by PET, created and preserved more than 2,100 affordable homes in 2025. Over ten years, the Equitable Development Initiative has invested more than $100 million so communities at risk of displacement can stay and thrive.

Today, this budget puts just over 30% of PET into housing and continues to use PET to balance the General Fund. Affordable homes are financed years in advance, and providers need predictable funding to secure tax credits, hold sites, and get projects built.

What we're asking for

Thank Council for the $10 million in this budget, and ask them to:

Plan for 50%. Adopt Councilmember Foster’s amendment directing the City Budget Office to develop a plan to consistently dedicate 50% of PET revenue to affordable housing and the Equitable Development Initiative. It requires no new spending in this budget.
Lock in the $10 million. Keep the $5 million Office of Housing add in the Chair’s Balancing Package, and adopt the $5 million anti-displacement proviso.
Keep housing dollars in housing. Carry forward unspent 2026 and 2027 PET funds at the Office of Housing, and create the Police Overpayment Recapture Fund to direct repaid police overpayments to affordable housing.

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Call on City Council to Protect Affordable Housing Funding

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Councilmembers Foster, Rinck, Lin, and Juarez

Subject: Thank you for leading on affordable housing in the budget

Message:

Thank you for sponsoring the amendment directing the City Budget Office to develop a plan to consistently appropriate 50% of annual JumpStart revenue to affordable housing and the Equitable Development Initiative. JumpStart’s original spending plan dedicated 62% of revenue to affordable housing. A plan to reach 50% would give housing providers the predictability they need to finance homes years in advance, and it requires no new appropriation in this budget. I am also grateful for your work to secure additional affordable housing funding this year. In a difficult budget, that investment will help move projects forward and keep more of our neighbors in their homes. Please keep fighting for the full slate of housing amendments and legislation as Council finalizes the budget. That means maintaining the $5 million add to the Office of Housing in the Chair’s Balancing Package, and adopting both the CBO SLI on the 50% JumpStart plan and the $5 million Office of Housing proviso for projects that advance racial equity and address displacement. It also means carrying forward unspent 2026 and 2027 JumpStart funds at the Office of Housing (Amendment 1 to CB 121337 and Amendment 1 to CB 121342), creating the Police Overpayment Recapture Fund for affordable housing (CB 121336), and passing the Council Budget Sustainability Ordinance (CB 121338). Thank you for standing with affordable housing.

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Councilmember Hollingsworth

Subject: Thanks for investing in housing, and please support the 50% JumpStart plan

Message:

Dear Councilmember Hollingsworth, Thank you for your leadership in identifying $5 million for affordable housing projects that advance racial equity and address displacement. Communities across Seattle, including the Central District, know what is at stake when longtime residents are priced out. This investment will help more of them stay. I urge you to build on that leadership by supporting Councilmember Foster’s amendment directing the City Budget Office to develop a plan to consistently appropriate 50% of annual JumpStart revenue to affordable housing and the Equitable Development Initiative. Anti-displacement work should not depend on finding one-time dollars each budget cycle. A long-term plan would give communities facing displacement durable support. EDI in particular helps community organizations secure permanent spaces so that cultural institutions and services stay rooted in their neighborhoods. The plan requires no new appropriation in this budget. As Council finalizes the budget, please also support maintaining the $5 million add to the Office of Housing in the Chair’s Balancing Package, along with your $5 million proviso. I also urge you to support carrying forward unspent 2026 and 2027 JumpStart funds at the Office of Housing (Amendment 1 to CB 121337 and Amendment 1 to CB 121342), the Police Overpayment Recapture Fund for affordable housing (CB 121336), and the Council Budget Sustainability Ordinance (CB 121338). Thank you for your leadership.

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Councilmembers Strauss, Saka, Kettle, and Rivera

Subject: Please support a long-term plan for JumpStart and affordable housing

Message:

Thank you for your work on a difficult budget. I am writing to urge you to support Councilmember Foster’s amendment directing the City Budget Office to develop a plan to consistently appropriate 50% of annual JumpStart revenue to affordable housing and the Equitable Development Initiative. JumpStart was created with a clear purpose: to build and preserve affordable homes and keep communities rooted in Seattle. Its original spending plan dedicated 62% of revenue to affordable housing. This amendment is a planning directive, not a new appropriation. It asks the City Budget Office to lay out a responsible path, and Council keeps its budget authority every year. That path matters because affordable homes are financed years in advance, and predictable local funding is what helps projects secure tax credits, hold sites, and get built. As Council finalizes the budget, please also support maintaining the $5 million add to the Office of Housing in the Chair’s Balancing Package and the $5 million Office of Housing proviso for affordable housing projects that advance racial equity and address displacement. I also urge you to support carrying forward unspent 2026 and 2027 JumpStart funds at the Office of Housing (Amendment 1 to CB 121337 and Amendment 1 to CB 121342), the Police Overpayment Recapture Fund for affordable housing (CB 121336), and the Council Budget Sustainability Ordinance (CB 121338). Seattle residents want their tax dollars to produce lasting results. Affordable homes do exactly that. Please vote yes.

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TAKE ACTION: Protect housing's share of the Payroll Expense Tax!

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