Mayor Durkan proposing $63.5 million cut for 2021 budget

SEATTLE — Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan on Tuesday unveiled her proposed 2021 budget, including a $63.5 million cut.

The Mayor said the city is facing a number of significant challenges including reductions to major general fund revenue sources like the sales tax, business and occupation tax, utility taxes, fees and fines.

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The Mayor also listed significant reductions to department and program-specific revenues, lack of new federal resources and growing labor costs as other challenges the city is facing.

Durkan said she had the following priorities when building the budget proposal:

• Sustaining the city’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
• A new $100 million investment in BIPOC communities while protecting BIPOC programs.
• Immediately removing functions out of the department and creating the foundation to a new approach to community safety.
• Preserving essential public services and supports.
• Expanding efforts to address homelessness and the housing crisis.
• Minimizing the impact to the city’s workforce.

Durkan said the $100 million investment in BIPOC communities will be a community-driven process to figure out where the money should go to address systemic inequities.

As Durkan has said previously, she is proposing moving some services like the 911 center out of the Seattle Police Department, wants to reduce the number of sworn officers to 1,400 and wants to institute a civilian hiring freeze. The mayor’s office said 22 officer positions would be reduced from 2020 through attrition.

In her proposal, the Mayor also said some parks projects will be delayed and only four of ten swimming pools would open next year. Some transportation projects would also be deferred.

The payroll tax, that Durkan previously raised concerns about, would be tapped into to help fill budget holes. She also suggested pursuing state legislative approval for a citywide income tax and said, ideally, there should be a city income tax and a regional payroll tax.

Cox Media Group