Seattle 2018 Education Levy: How Much Taxes Will Increase

SEATTLE, WA - Seattle voters will be asked to approve a property tax increase this November. Mayor Jenny Durkan's Families, Education, Preschool and Promise Plan levy will raise approximately $638 million between 2019 and 2025. That money will be spent on maintaining and expanding preschool programs, and on Durkan's Seattle Promise plan, which will pay tuition for Seattle graduates to attend community colleges in the city.

The City Council passed Durkan's plan on June 18 with several amendments, and Durkan signed that legislation on Wednesday. The levy is in some ways a continuation of the Families and Education (approved in 2011) and Seattle Preschool Program (approved in 2014) levies, which both expire in 2018.

If voters approve it, the levy will increase property taxes each year between 2019 and 2025 (no sales tax increase in this measure). The mayor's office has advertised the cost as about $20 per month for the owner of a home with the city's median assessed value ($665,000). Of course, the higher a property's assessed value, the more a homeowner will pay in taxes.

Here's what the levy will cost in each year, according to City Council estimates:

Aside from the mayor and City Council, the levy is being backed by a political campaign called Families Yes. The campaign has raised about $42,000 so far, with big donations coming in from Microsoft ($5,000), Comcast ($5,000), Alaska Airlines ($5,000), and Seattle Mariners majority owner John Stanton ($10,000). The campaign's biggest expenditure so far is about $20,000 for polling - presumably about how property owners feel about a new levy. There is no campaign yet opposing the ballot measure.

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