City Council Wants Public Input On Seattle Housing Levy Today
Would you agree to pay more taxes every year to keep low-income people in their homes? That's one goal of Seattle's proposed housing levy.
The public can weigh in at a hearing Monday in City Hall at 5:30 p.m.
TRANSCRIPT
The City Council is vetting the proposal before deciding whether to put it on the ballot. The levy money is used to build affordable housing for seniors and people with disabilities and help low-income people stay in their homes.
Councilmember Sally Bagshaw says action is needed because too many people can't afford Seattle.
Bagshaw: "Focusing on this long-term, supportive housing is the direction we want to be going, and with our housing levy there are some opportunities there to continue to fund that."
The proposed $290 million housing levy is double the price of the one being paid off now.
People pay an average of $60 a year in property taxes for the current levy — that would jump to $120 dollars. But the housing levy still represents less than 5 percent of the overall property taxes paid in Seattle.
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Paige Browning
Newscaster
Paige hosts midday newscasts and monitors news of significance to the Puget Sound region. She hopped over Washington’s mountains to join KUOW, after hosting news and reporting at Spokane Public Radio since 2011. She began her start in radio while a journalism student at University of Montana, by sharing stories with KUFM. Paige was raised in the mountains and rivers around Spokane. In her spare time she cheers on the Mariners in the summer, and hopes for snow in the winter.
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