CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
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AN ORDINANCE relating to taxation; adding a new Chapter 5.37 and a new Chapter 5.38 to Title 5 of the Seattle Municipal Code; and amending Sections 5.30.010, 5.30.060, 5.55.010, 5.55.040, 5.55.060, 5.55.150, 5.55.165, 5.55.220, and 5.55.230 of the Seattle Municipal Code.
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WHEREAS, Seattle is a city of great prosperity that has experienced tremendous growth of its economy and population; however, this growth and prosperity has directly contributed to the rapid increase in the number of individuals and families experiencing homelessness; and
WHEREAS, a national study published in the Journal of Urban Affairs established the correlation between increasing rent and homelessness. Some of the report findings include: (1) Washington is the tenth most expensive state for renters; (2) the high cost of rental housing is driving increases in homelessness; and (3) an increase of $100 in median rent for an area results in a 15 percent (metro areas) and a 39 percent (nearby suburbs and rural areas) increase in homelessness; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service states that "a progressive tax takes a larger percentage of income from high-income groups than from low-income groups and is based on the concept of ability to pay"; and
WHEREAS, the Seattle Times recently wrote that "Seattle rents have soared 65 percent since 2010. The typical Seattle renter now pays about $21,900 for rent over the course of a year, up from $13,200 at the start of the decade."1 That same article also highlighted that the average two-bedroom apartment in Seattle costs $2,000 a month for the first time in Seattle's history and that "rents across the Puget Sound region are still rising faster than the historical norm, and the market remains hotter than most other U.S. cities"; and
WHEREAS, according to the 2017 Seattle/King County Point-in-Time Count, there are at least 3,857 individuals living unsheltered in...
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