Councilmember Morales proposes +$150M to Seattle Transportation Levy, Totaling $1.7B

Seattle City CouncilmemberTammy J. Morales(District 2) announces a proposal to increase the transportation levy with a focus on improving traffic safety. Photo courtesy City of Seattle.

In response to the demands of community groups and a coalition of transportation and public safety advocates, Seattle City Councilmember Tammy Morales will formally propose an amendment to the 2024 Transportation Levy adding $150 million in spending on safe streets, maintenance and modernization, and expanding Seattle's tree canopy.

The 2024 Transportation Levy, first proposed by the Mayor in April as a $1.35 billion package, then boosted to $1.45 billion in May, has been in the City Council's court for the last several weeks as they determine how they want to replace the Move Seattle levy which expires at the end of this year.

Earlier this month, Seattle City Council Transportation Committee Chair Rob Saka (District 1) formally proposed the addition of $100M to the Levy, bringing the total to $1.55 billion over 8 years. Since then, a number of amendments for shifting money around within that bucket have been proposed by various councilmembers, with the final votes for amendment by the Select Committee for the Levy scheduled for next Tuesday, July 2nd, at 9:30am.

Councilmember Morales' proposed amendment is the only known proposal which increases the size of the Levy, despite Northwest Progressive Institute polling resultsshowing that a majority of Seattle voters, when given the option between levies totaling $1.7B and $1.9B, would prefer the larger levy.

Councilmember Morales' Proposal

The proposed amendment would increase the size of the Levy to $1.7 billion over 8 years. According to the news release from the City Council, the increased Levy would cost the owner of a median assessed-value property ($804,000 in 2024) about $546 per year, or $48 more than the current ($1.55B) Levy, or an additional $4 per month.

The addition would be divvied up as follows:

• $30 million for arterial roadway maintenance (new total: $380M)
• $20 million for protected bike lanes (new total: $88M)
• $20 million to extend the Burke Gilman Trail along NW Market Street and Leary Way completing the Missing Link (all new funding)
• $15.5 million for neighborhood-initiated safety projects (restoring funding cut in CM Saka's proposal)
• $15 million to plant and maintain trees across Seattle (new total: $44M)
• $14.5 million for the creation of new sidewalks and safe pathways (new total: $140.5M)
• $10 million for sidewalk safety and repair (new total: $29M)
• $10 million to redesign and improve Ballard Avenue Northwest through the historic district (presumably added to the People Streets Capital Projects", totaling $49M)
• $5 million more for safe street crossing (new total: $19M)
• $5 million to create bicycle connections for all ages and abilities with at least 5 new neighborhood greenways (new total: $25M)
• $5 million to support community-based planning around the future Graham and Chinatown-International District stations (all new funding)

Several of these changes fulfill long-time goals of sitting Councilmembers, like Dan Strauss' goal of finishing the Missing Link along Leary and Market in Ballard and pedestrianizing Ballard Avenue, or backfill funding that had been proposed to be eliminated by other Councilmembers to bolster other programs.

The proposal makes a clear attempt to fund many of the major priorities of community groups and safe streets advocates, and is the only proposal to increase funding for the urban tree canopy.

Seattle Neighborhood Greenways is calling for action to support this proposal, as polling indicates a supermajority of Seattle voters would support a Levy of this size.

Once again, please join Seattle Transit Blog intaking action to support a better Transportation Levy.