Seattle Voters Approve $1.55 Billion Transportation Levy

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The City of Seattle secured a substantial win Tuesday night as Proposition 1, the eight-year, $1.55 billion transportation levy crafted to replace the expiring Levy to Move Seattle, was on a path to victory and leading by a comfortable margin. The road- and bridge-focused package will ensure consistent funding to the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), and allow it to ramp up hiring to meet some of the levy’s ambitious promises, which include building 250 blocks of new sidewalks within the next four years.

With 66.8% of voters giving the go-ahead as of election night, Prop 1’s passage is all but assured. Budget writers can now get to work preparing the City budget for an additional $371 million in transportation spending over the next two years, funded via property tax revenues. SDOT said that 71 positions that it was holding vacant can now be filled, in addition to 72 new positions in 2025 and another 44 in 2026.



Prop 1’s wide margin on election night bolsters the arguments made by transportation advocates that a larger, more ambitious levy would have also had success at the ballot box. Polling commissioned by the Northwest Progressive Institute this spring showed majority support for a $1.9 billion levy that included more projects.

However, the City Council rejected a push by Councilmember Tammy Morales to increase the levy’s amount modestly to $1.7 billion, which was in large part due to opposition from the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.

https://www.theurbanist.org/2024/11/06/seattle-voters-approve-1-55-billion-transportation-levy/