Seattle City Council Proposes Changes To Durkan's Budget

SEATTLE, WA - The Seattle City Council released its additions to Mayor Jenny Durkan's proposed 2019-2020 budget on Wednesday. Called a "balancing package," the document includes new spending added by Council members, but keeps Durkan's proposal balanced.

In September, Durkan submitted a proposed $5.9 billion budget, which was $49 million lighter than the current budget. Durkan had said early in her term that she wanted city departments to make cuts in case of an economic slowdown.

Councilwoman Sally Bagshaw, who chairs the Council budget committee, said of the balancing package she "prioritized investments with broad support from my colleagues, including providing support to those who need our help the most: immigrants, refugees, sexual assault survivors, LGBTQ seniors, our unhoused neighbors and more."

What's in the balancing package? Here are a few highlights:

• $100,000 in 2019 for a Community Health Engagement Location (CHEL), also called a safe-use injection site (as of June, the city was investigating a mobile CHEL as opposed to one fixed in a building)
• $253,410 for a study of the Secure Scheduling Ordinance
• $220,000 for civil attorneys to work with King County to defend indigent local residents
• $100,000 in 2019 to potentially establish a Central Area Community Preservation and Development Authority
• $180,000 in 2019 and 2020 to the Human Services Department for helping LGBTQ seniors
• $150,000 in 2019 and 2020 for legal assistance for sexual assault survivors
• $44,000 in 2019 and 2020 for a (contract) mental health counselor for the Navigation Team, the city's homeless outreach group
• $100,000 in 2019 and 2020 for the homeless day services center
• $24,000 over the next two years to pay for Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations
• $158,611 in 2019 for a study of noise pollution over Beacon Hill (an issue El Centro de la Raza has been spearheading for years)

You can see the full balancing package with all its new expenditures (and some cuts) here.

Photo courtesy City of Seattle