CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
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AN ORDINANCE relating to the 2020 Budget; suspending the Minimal Annual General Fund Appropriation to the Seattle Department of Transportation budget as required in Ordinance 124796, the Levy to Move Seattle; and ratifying and confirming certain prior acts; all by a 3/4 vote of the City Council.
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WHEREAS, Ordinance 124796 provided for the submission to the voters of Seattle a proposition authorizing the City to levy regular property taxes for up to nine years in excess of the limitation on levies in chapter 84.55 RCW for the purpose of providing City facilities and services, including transportation improvements, both capital and operating, with possible debt financing, and creation of a new oversight committee; and
WHERAS, Section 5 of Ordinance 124796 established a Minimum Annual General Fund (GF) Appropriation of $40,000,000 in the first year of the Levy, adjusted annually for inflation afterward in order to levy taxes authorized by the measure, unless the City Council by a 3/4 vote determines that economic or financial conditions prevent the Council from appropriating the Minimum Annual GF Appropriation; and
WHEREAS, the proposed levy was approved by Seattle voters on November 3, 2015; and
WHEREAS, the Mayor proposed, and the City Council approved by Ordinance 126000, a 2020 Budget and 2020-2025 Capital Improvement Program that included the Minimum Annual GF Appropriation; and
WHEREAS, in response to outbreaks of the COVID-19 disease in Seattle, Mayor Jenny Durkan proclaimed a civil emergency exists in the City of Seattle in the Mayoral Proclamation of Civil Emergency dated March 3, 2020, modified by Resolution 31937; and
WHEREAS, in response to COVID-19, the Governor of Washington has closed or limited operations of many businesses in the City of Seattle; and
WHEREAS, these actions are appropriate for public health reasons but have had severe economic impacts on businesse...
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