Conversation

The Seattle city council is currently discussing

's plan to repurpose JumpStart tax revenues, on an ongoing basis, for priorities her office proposed funding in future years with new progressive revenue. Durkan's office never followed up with a revenue proposal.

Erica C. Barnett

@ericacbarnett

Oct 13, 2021

So now, the council is in the position of continuing to fund the priorities JumpStart funded on a supposedly one-time basis last year (priorities the council supports too) and funding the investments in equity the council committed JumpStart to fund when it passed.

Erica C. Barnett

@ericacbarnett

Oct 13, 2021

The decisions the council makes this year—whether to continue funding the investments from the mayor's task force using JumpStart revenues, rather than other funding sources—will largely determine whether the tax can be used for its intended purposes in the future.

Erica C. Barnett

@ericacbarnett

Durkan's plan proposes removing $147 million from the JumpStart spending plan to pay for her own priorities, or $62 million more than the maximum allowed by the adopted JumpStart plan. She has said her budget meets the spirit if not the letter of the adopted spending plan.

7:02 PM · Oct 13, 2021

This is a good summary of Durkan's proposal, which creates a fiscal cliff by relying on one-time COVID funds for JumpStart priorities. Durkan will be gone next year; the city's old 2-year budgeting practice, which Durkan ended, would have required her to address this cliff.