City Sexy, Sexy Revenue Shortfall
posted by on October 31 at 17:35 PM
Revenue shortfalls are dry as turkey burgers. There’s no reason to read this post. I fell asleep writing it! But the folks tasked with plugging holes in next year’s city budget say it’s sexy.
Next Wednesday, city finance director Dwight Dively will announce a bleak outlook for city-funded improvements at a city council budget hearing. About $15 million in taxes from real estate sales that the mayor’s office expected to be available—based on an August forecast—is vanishing because of the slowing real-estate market. The result, city staffers say, is that the city may need to siphon money from the same pool of general funds for which advocacy groups are clamoring.
The shortfall is in a tax called the real estate excise tax. Last year, the city collected $70 million; this year, with the real-estate market in suspended animation, the city had expected to collect about $50 million, but folks at City Hall say now that it could be below $35 million.
The money is earmarked for city projects such as fixing roofs on public buildings, installing new boilers in police stations, and maintaining ball fields. City hall staffers warn that the shortfalls could delay the construction of new fire stations and other facilities. Not sexy, right? The grande dame of the city council disagrees.
“I think some of them are quite sexy,” says Council Member Jean Godden, chair of the Finance and Budget Committee and a former Times and PI columnist who has followed Seattle’s economic woes since the Boeing bust. As examples of sexy projects, she names fixing the Lake Union Armory roof, improving Magnuson Park’s Building 30, and planning for Northgate Park. “There are a number of projects we had planned for but won’t be able to do this year,” she says.
Some of these projects can be postponed indefinitely. But other maintenance projects could require urgent attention. The city’s general fund could be tapped “if there were an emergency that had to be covered,” says Godden. And the resources are finite. “We can’t spend money we don’t have—unlike the federal government,” she says.
Jean Godden says "“I think some of them are quite sexy,” nice to hear from our city council member for anything Paul Allen....How about some neighborhood representation outside of downtown???? This lame-o needs to go now ....
how about some bonds. If you love the city you'll buy them.
You write paeans to your love of $20 billion light rail fiascoes, then you whine some more about them cutting your favorite $50 million earmark?
If you find the budget sexy, you will love the parks levy. I think there are at least three items in the mayor's proposed capital budget that would be funded by a successful parks levy. Meaning, the city would have a much easier time dealing with the shortfall in the real estate excise tax. In a down economy the levy can provide a local economic stimulus and good green jobs. And this money doesn't bail out banks, it builds public places loved and used by all.
Can you tell me about this Northgate Park I keep hearing mentioned? Is this a new park? All I can find on the parks dept's website is the park the library sits in. Is this part of that creek daylighting thing? Thanks
Michael, tax payer fatigue is upon us - today I talked to an insider on the parks levy - polling from the support it side looks bad ...
the fiscal doom and gloom out there is acute in the past three weeks.
Money issues will be interesting to watch on Tuesday, for us policy and political geeks, and tea leaf readers.
@5 Northgate Urban Park is on the parking lot just north of Target and Best Buy. The multifamily housing on the other sides is likely to be redeveloped at some point in the future, and is the subject of a proposed upzone. http://www.seattle.gov/parks/maintenance/northgateurbancenter.htm
@6 Whose poll? I am not aware of any polling done by anyone in the last few weeks on the parks levy. Most campaigns are spending their money on voter contact. Before that, polling looked okay. But, this is certainly a different year politically than most. Tremendous turnout in a great democratic year is usually good for tax measures, but this year has some strikingly bad economic news. As I said above, park investments make a lot of sense in tough times, but the voters ultimately make that call.
Seattle's so-called taxpayer fatigue will only be worsened by some of the things our elected representatives are floating. When we vote to tax ourselves for fire stations and and extended bus service that's what we expect. Now that the budget is short the city suggests the levy won't pay for what it was supposed to because they are actually planning on using that fire levy to offset general fund issues (most likely using those funds to pay for what are really basic operating costs) and the county talks about shelving what we voted for (specific additional bus service) because of deficits elsewhere in the system.
To add insult to injury the pro-parks levy group had the audacity to call a new levy a "tax decrease" because it is smaller than the expiring levy.
Oh, I forgot, 30+ years ago we paid to bring the market up to snuff but now we are being asked to upgrade the market. I understand they think they are supposed to repress free market thought in their areas but things like driving out new restaurants by refusing to let them sell Coke, Pepsi, or RC because other vendors sell those items is ridiculous!
The last straw is that they all blame revenue problems on a tax cap but that is complete bunk! My house has been re-assessed every single year I've owned it (almost 14) and up by large %'s each year. Add the 1% cap and my taxes are almost triple what they were when I bought it but services available are not noticeably better.
Our budget shortfalls are because we don't pay anywhere near as much in taxes as most urban dwellers in similar locations. The answer is not more property taxes, property tax owners cannot and should not pay for every service.
I voted against EVERY levy item this year. I want most of the items to be accomplished but I will no longer bear the disproportionate burden of paying through property tax add-ons especially when in tough times our reps will redirect that money in any way they can.
TO ANY ELECTED OFFICIALS OUT THERE WHO MIGHT READ THIS.... If you vote to siphon levy funds to replace lost revenue I will make a very large issue of it and do my best to vote every one of you out. I voted for a package of new fire stations and apparatus. You scrap a single station off that list and I will work to scrap you!
Nick Licata, vote however you want, you're already on the list!
Fixing the Armory roof is so sexy, just like those cliche porn flicks where the horny housewife gets fucked by the roofer!
If it was not so stupid, one could think it is Saturday Night Live unfolding before our eyes.
While the fiscals collapse at every level of the city, and we face giant recession or depression in the face, ALL THAT -
Various committees cogitate on the size of garage doors, a new study on blah blah, and the mayour tries to push temporary housing off the radar, temporary housing now sponsored by the very good and big time Church Council of Greater Seattle. Who could be better at a camp for the homeless??? Who, maybe the Vatican.
The city council and the mayor have become a fools paradise. Of course, none of them will loose their 100,000. plus salary right away.
I voted NO on all money measures, for the FIRST time in my life. Not now, not now seems to say it well.
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