What's next for Seattle's social housing after big tax win?
Seattle voters were unambiguous in their support for social housing and their desire to tax high-paying businesses to pay for its creation. Now it’s on the city to start collecting the tax and on the Seattle Social Housing Developer to staff up and start building homes.
The Feb. 11 special election posed two questions to voters: Should Seattle fund social housing, and if so, should the city impose a new business tax to do so or use money from the existing Jumpstart payroll tax?
Social housing advocates won by a wide margin. On the question of whether to fund social housing, 73% of voters said Yes vs. 27% No. On how to fund it, Proposition 1A (a new tax) beat Proposition 1B (existing taxes) 63% to 37%. The election results were certified on Feb. 21.
“We’re all astounded on our side. … we thought it might be close,” said Roberto Jiménez, CEO of the Seattle Social Housing Developer. “It gives us our clear mandate to move forward. We’re really excited about that and eager to get to work addressing the actual need that exists and is growing.”
https://www.cascadepbs.org/politics/2025/02/whats-next-seattles-social-housing-after-big-tax-win