CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
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AN ORDINANCE amending Ordinance 127156, which adopted the 2025 Budget, including the 2025-2030 Capital Improvement Program (CIP); changing appropriations to various departments and budget control levels, and from various funds in the Budget; revising project allocations for certain projects in the 2025-2030 CIP; and ratifying and confirming certain prior acts; all by a 3/4 vote of the City Council.
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WHEREAS, the 2026 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup will take place between June 11 to July 19, 2026, and is projected to be the largest and most-viewed sports tournament to ever occur in history with billions of spectators watching from all over the globe; and
WHEREAS, in January 2018, the Mayor and City Council adopted Resolution 31791, supporting the City’s proposal to be a host city for the 2026 FIFA World Cup; and
WHEREAS, on June 16, 2022, FIFA announced its selection of Seattle to serve as a host city for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be held in 16 cities across Canada, Mexico, and the United States; and
WHEREAS, Seattle’s Lumen Field, the proud home of the Seattle Seahawks, Seattle Reign, and Seattle Sounders, boasting a capacity of nearly 69,000 seats, nestled in the City’s SODO neighborhood and adjoining Pioneer Square and the Chinatown-International District, will host six games for the 2026 FIFA World Cup; and
WHEREAS, the Seattle Center and its 74-acre campus has long served as the largest and most popular tourist destination in Washington State, attracting up to 10 million visitors a year, featuring legacy and new cultural institutions, major regional music, culinary and art events, and world-renown landmarks such as the Space Needle; and
WHEREAS, on October 1, 2024, Mayor Harrell and the Seattle International Soccer Hosting Local Organizing Committee (LOC) announced that Seattle Center will host the official Fan Celebration, expected to draw up to 20,000 fans each day it is activated and will require additional temporary staffing at Seattle Center for success; and
WHEREAS, in August 2023, the City Council passed, and Mayor Harrell signed, Ordinance 126881, authorizing The City of Seattle to execute a contractual agreement with the LOC to delineate responsibilities and obligations for each in a Host City Agreement; and
WHEREAS, Mayor Harrell’s 2025 State of the City Address, delivered on February 18, 2025, included the announcement of a multi-departmental World Cup Action Group to prepare for the games and collaborate on public safety, transportation, permitting, and community activation; and
WHEREAS, the FIFA World Cup is expected to bring up to 750,000 visitors to Seattle, delivering an estimated $929 million in economic benefits to the region, including $100 million in direct state and local tax revenue and supporting nearly 21,000 jobs; and
WHEREAS, The City of Seattle in partnership with the LOC is strategically deploying resources to harness the benefits of hosting the FIFA World Cup throughout the city, and to prepare and support the neighborhoods most directly impacted by these large-scale events; and
WHEREAS, the City Council designated $6.2 million in capital reserves and appropriated $6 million in operating reserves in the 2025 and 2026 budgets for the City’s preparations for the FIFA World Cup; and
WHEREAS, to ensure a safe and accessible experience for visitors and residents, the City will make infrastructure, accessibility, and safety improvements to the public right-of-way, and emergency management and medical response investments; and
WHEREAS, the City is now prepared to implement these improvements; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF SEATTLE AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The appropriations for the following items in the 2025 Adopted Budget are modified as follows:
|
Item |
Department |
Fund |
Budget Summary Level |
Amount |
|
1.1 |
Finance General |
Payroll Expense Tax (14500) |
General Purpose (BO-FG-2QD00) |
($1,800,000) |
|
|
Seattle Center |
Payroll Expense Tax (14500) |
Campus (BO-SC-60000) |
$896,000 |
|
|
Seattle Fire Department |
Payroll Expense Tax (14500) |
Operations (BO-FD-F3000) |
$904,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
$0 |
Unspent funds so appropriated shall carry forward to subsequent fiscal years until they are exhausted or abandoned by ordinance.
Section 2. To pay for necessary capital costs and expenses incurred or to be incurred, but for which insufficient appropriations were made due to causes that could not reasonably have been foreseen at the time the 2025 Budget was adopted, appropriations in the 2025 Budget and project allocations in the 2025-2031 Capital Improvement Program are increased as follows:
|
Item |
Department |
Fund |
Budget Summary Level |
CIP Project Name |
Additional Budget Appropriation |
|
2.1 |
Seattle Center |
Unrestricted Cumulative Reserve Fund (00164) |
Building and Campus Improvements (BC-SC-S03P01) |
General Site Improvements (MC-SC-S0305) |
$914,000 |
|
2.2 |
Seattle Department of Transportation |
Unrestricted Cumulative Reserve Fund (00164) |
Mobility-Capital (BC-TR-19003) |
MC-TR-C120 - Urban Design Capital Projects |
$2,420,000 |
|
2.3 |
Seattle Parks and Recreation |
Unrestricted Cumulative Reserve Fund (00164) |
Fix It First (BC-PR-40000) |
Major Maintenance and Asset Management (MC-PR-41001) |
$1,080,000 |
|
Net Change |
$4,414,000 |
Section 3. Any act consistent with the authority of this ordinance taken after its passage and prior to its effective date is ratified and confirmed.
Section 4. This ordinance shall take effect as provided by Seattle Municipal Code Sections 1.04.020 and 1.04.070.
Passed by a 3/4 vote of all the members of the City Council the ________ day of _________________________, 2025, and signed by me in open session in authentication of its passage this ________ day of _________________________, 2025.
____________________________________
President ____________ of the City Council
Approved / returned unsigned / vetoed this ____day of _______________, 2025.
____________________________________
Bruce A. Harrell, Mayor
Filed by me this ________ day of _________________________, 2025.
____________________________________
Scheereen Dedman, City Clerk
(Seal)