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Today, Mayor Bruce Harrell released the City of Seattle’s 2023-2024 Proposed Budget.

Seattle skyline. Photo Credit: SDOT Flickr.

The Proposed Budget reflects Mayor Harrell’s continued commitment to bold action on the priorities of our communities – investing to address urgent needs and emphasizing the essentials as we build One Seattle.

Mayor Harrell’s Proposed Budget invests in creating safe, healthy, and thriving communities by supporting efforts to deliver effective public safety, build housing and address the homelessness crisis, and drive opportunity and equity for all. This Proposed Budget responds to the City’s ongoing and long-term revenue gap, as expenditures continue to exceed General Fund revenues, balancing immediate priorities with the resources available to respond and identifying improvements and efficiencies. With the investments in this budget proposal, we can work together to advance our shared One Seattle vision and an agenda that will inspire the best in our city and keep us moving forward. 

“As the recently confirmed director of the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), I am pleased to see that SDOT’s proposed budget reflects the priorities and values I share with Mayor Harrell, SDOT staff, and the people we serve.  I have already heard loud and clear that the number one priority of Seattleites is safety, and one of my first commitments has been to initiate a top to bottom review of our Vision Zero program. With new investments this year and future plans, I’m confident that we can make progress toward Vision Zero and I am excited to lead SDOT as we chart the future for this priority program. This budget also supports my commitment to asset management, including work to maintain, repair, retrofit, and, when necessary, replace our bridge assets.” – Greg Spotts, Director, Seattle Department of Transportation

The proposed 2023-2024 Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) budget takes several new actions in addition to our ongoing work to reflect our shared values. 

Among much more, we are: 

  • Improving safety for our most vulnerable travelers in response to Vision Zero trends by directing $8.3 million to projects to make it safer to walk, roll, and bike to school. We will continue investing in our ongoing Vision Zero work, including on busy corridors like Aurora Ave N. 
  • Delivering on voter commitments by directing $41 million in strategic investments across the Levy to Move Seattle portfolio. These investments are being made with the support of Seattle’s Levy Oversight Committee. This will fund additional sidewalk maintenance, street paving, and bike safety work, as well as improvements to East Marginal Way – one of our busiest freight corridors – in 2023 and 2024. 
  • Building an equitable future by directing $2.8 million to engage people in Seattle in co-creating the Seattle Transportation Plan and informing a transportation funding package that will allow us to keep building an equitable transportation system for Seattle’s future. 
  • Creating a climate-resilient transit network by directing $2.6 million to ensure Sound Transit’s West Seattle Ballard Link Extension project meets the needs of our communities. We are also directing additional resources to make capital improvements to transit routes to improve reliability and enhance safety for all travelers. We will also directly purchase 137,000 hours of transit service annually on King County Metro routes to enhance reliable and efficient transit. 
  • Stewarding our infrastructure by making ongoing investments in our bridges, maintaining and preserving assets like stairways, retaining walls, sidewalks, and roads, managing the right-of-way, improving efficient delivery of goods through our freight network, creating ways for people to enjoy public space, and much more. 

As part of this budget proposal, we are also adapting to Seattle’s evolving needs by including these changes:  

  • Mayor Harrell continues to work with the Seattle Police Department (SPD) and the community to structure services to meet public safety needs best. This budget proposes reintegrating Parking Enforcement functions and staff into SPD starting in 2023.  
  • Recognizing downtown travel patterns and opportunities continue to evolve, the Office of Economic Development will gather information on future needs, expectations, and challenges for residents and businesses around downtown mobility. The input will help SDOT align the timing, planning, and implementation of significant investments like the Center City Connector streetcar, Third Avenue Transit Corridor improvements, and the West Seattle to Ballard Link Extension.  

We are building on what we’ve done so far in 2022 to transform our transportation system. Much of this work is possible thanks to Seattle residents saying “Yes!” to the Levy to Move Seattle and Seattle Transit Measure.

Highlights include: 

  • Safety: Repaired and reopened the West Seattle Bridge; completed seismic retrofits on two bridges to make them more resilient in an earthquake; slowed speeds and enhanced safety at intersections citywide. 
  • Equity: Launched the Transportation Equity Framework, a major step toward addressing inequities in our transportation system; increased access to transit for essential workers living in underserved neighborhoods. 
  • Mobility. Made walking and rolling safer and accessible by installing over 1,100 new curb ramps, repairing and building new sidewalks, restriping crosswalks citywide, and much more. 
  • Sustainability. Added over 3 miles to our bicycle network; increased options for people to take transit, bike, and scooter-share around town; planted over 250 new trees. 
  • Livability. Joined with Friends of Detective Cookie Chess Park to build a park and gathering space for Seattle’s most diverse neighborhood. 
  • Excellence. Repaved over 15 lane miles of City streets; rebuilt 3 stairways; improved bridges, the freight network, signals, transit routes, and more. 

Over the next two months, the City Council will review the Mayor’s Proposed Budget. Public hearings are on October 11, November 8, and November 15. Final adoption of the budget is expected on Tuesday, November 22. More budget details are available on the City’s budget website, and you may direct questions to MOS_COMMS@seattle.gov