In February, Seattle voters will have a chance to vote on two very different proposals to create additional affordable housing in the city.
Social housing advocates collected signatures to place Initiative 137 (I-137) on the November 2024 general election ballot. The initiative would establish an “excess compensation tax” of 5% on employers. The tax would apply to compensation above $1 million paid to an employee in Seattle. Backers of I-137 expect the tax to raise about $52 million annually. Those revenues would finance the development of social housing in which a people with a wide range of incomes would live together, with higher income residents subsidizing the rent for lower income people living in the building.
The City Council voiced concerns about channeling this revenue stream to a newly-formed public development authority with no prior housing construction experience. As an alternate, the Council proposed allocating $10 million per year from JumpStart tax revenes to the public development authority for five years. According to the sponsor of the Council alternative, Councilmember Maritza Rivera, it “balances the need for innovation with the need for accountability.”
The Council voted to place both proposals on a February 11, 2025 special election ballot, removing I-137 from the 2024 general election ballot.
