CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
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AN ORDINANCE amending Ordinance 125475, which adopted the 2018 Budget; changing appropriations to various departments and budget control levels; all by a 3/4 vote of the City Council.
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WHEREAS, the Department of Finance and Administrative Services intends to sell property at 1933 Minor Avenue, currently home to the Seattle Information Technology Department’s Communications Shop, and has submitted legislation to sell said property as Council Bill 119195; and
WHEREAS, the functions of the Communications Shop will need to be relocated to other facilities, at cost to The City of Seattle (City); and
WHEREAS, Seattle is in the midst of a housing affordability crisis, and the number of residents experiencing homelessness in both sheltered and unsheltered living arrangements has grown dramatically; and
WHEREAS, in accordance with Pathways Home, the City embraces the evidence-based Housing First philosophy, which recognizes the basic necessity of stable housing as a foundation for successful engagement in supportive services and other appropriate supports. This is a commitment critical to investing in what works and with a singular focus of moving people to stable housing, as well as shifting to a system able to nimbly respond and invest resources across interventions based on current need and best-practices; and
WHEREAS, various City departments have committed to participating in an Innovative Housing Strategies Subcabinet, which will develop a Bridge Housing Investment Strategy to increase the supply of interim or “bridge” shelter and housing for people currently living unsheltered; and
WHEREAS, bridge funding offered to service providers not selected in the Homeless Investments Request for Proposals (RFP) process is limited to less than six months for most recipients, which may be insufficient time for agencies to work with people receiving their services to find new services, and efforts to transition people to other services should occur and be demonstrated as successful before bridge funding is terminated; and
WHEREAS, members of the King County Board of Health have called upon the City and local leaders to employ immediate crisis shelter options as well as basic sanitation and hygiene services; and
WHEREAS, hygiene service providers offer drop-in services to any unsheltered homeless individual, and most enhanced shelters receiving additional funding under the 2017 HSD Homeless Investments RFP only provide hygiene services to shelter clients; and
WHEREAS, various City departments have developed the Seattle Rental Housing Assistance Pilot, in partnership with the Seattle Housing Authority, which will aim to prevent homelessness by providing housing stability services to vulnerable households on the Seattle Housing Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher waitlist that are most at risk of becoming homeless and generate information that will inform the future deployment of City resources, such as through a sustainable source like an employee hours tax, for homeless prevention programs; and
WHEREAS, long-term funding for capital and operational costs for programs that provide safe housing for those most at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness, such as an employee hours tax, are being explored for implementation by the City; and
WHEREAS, due to recent population growth in the South Lake Union and Denny Triangle neighborhoods, there is an ever-increasing need to site an additional fire station in one of those neighborhoods, and the City intends to identify and acquire property to that end; and
WHEREAS, the City also needs to upgrade its freshwater Marine Emergency Response facility and there is an opportunity to collocate this facility with the land-based fire station at a South Lake Union location; and
WHEREAS, 2017 Real Estate Excise Tax receipts exceeded the forecast revenue by at least $1 million and are sufficient to fund evaluation of a site for a new marine response facility; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF SEATTLE AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Appropriations. The appropriations for the following items in the 2018 Budget are modified as follows:
|
Item |
Fund |
Department |
Budget Summary Level |
Amount |
|
1.1 |
General Fund (00100) |
Department of Finance and Administrative Services |
Facilities Services (BO-FA-FACILITY) |
$2,000,000 |
|
1.2 |
General Fund (00100) |
Department of Finance and Administrative Services |
Facilities Services (BO-FA-FACILITY) |
$430,000 |
|
1.3 |
General Fund (00100) |
Finance General |
Reserves (2QD00) |
$5,320,000 |
|
1.4 |
General Fund (00100) |
Office of Housing |
Leadership and Administration (BO-HU-1000) |
$250,000 |
|
1.5 |
General fund (00100) |
Human Services Department |
Addressing Homelessness (BO-HS-H3000) |
$2,000,000 |
|
1.6 |
General Fund (00100) |
Human Services Department |
Addressing Homelessness (BO-HS-H3000) |
$1,000,000 |
|
1.7 |
Low-Incoming Housing Fund (16400) |
Office of Housing |
Multifamily Housing (BO-HU-3000) |
$2,000,000 |
|
1.8 |
REET I Capital Projects Fund (30010) |
Department of Finance and Administrative Services |
Public Safety Facilities - Fire (BC-FA-PSFACFIRE) |
$1,000,000 |
|
Total |
|
|
|
$14,000,000 |
Section 2. Innovative Housing Strategies Subcabinet and Bridge Housing Investment strategy
A. The Mayor should create an Executive-level Innovative Housing Strategies (IHS) subcabinet that includes the Human Services Department, the Office of Housing, the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections, the Office of Planning and Community Development, the Department of Finance and Administrative Services, the Department of Neighborhoods, and the City Budget Office, with representation from the City Council. The first priority of the IHS Subcabinet should be to develop a Bridge Housing Investment Strategy (BHIS) to increase the supply of bridge shelter and bridge housing options for people living unsheltered.
B. The IHS subcabinet’s work on the BHIS should be anchored around prioritizing innovative solutions using the following core principles and objectives to meet the goal stated in subsection 2.A of this ordinance:
1. Rapid deployment;
2. Cost effectiveness; and
3. Maximizing capacity of safe alternatives to living unsheltered.
C. Analysis of bridge shelter and bridge housing options should include, but not be limited to, wood-frame sheds (“Tiny Houses”), identification of sites for placement of “Tiny House Villages,” hygiene infrastructure (i.e., facilities that provide access to restrooms, laundry, and/or showers), with prioritized investments into portable modular bunkhouses or cabins, both steel-frame and wood-frame, backyard cottages, the master leasing or purchase of existing apartments, single-room occupancy models, and/or multifamily structures. Each option should be evaluated based on cost, speed to deploy, land use and building code issues, and potential obstacles.
D. The IHS subcabinet should prioritize the implementation of at least one immediate bridge housing project with a goal of serving residents no later than May 31, 2018.
E. In addition to this one immediate project, the BHIS should center around the implementation of one or more innovative demonstration project proposals that should include a site, operations plan, budget, service delivery model, and approach to evaluation. The IHS should include: a budget for phased implementation and spending detail for the $5,320,000 designated for the BHIS from the sale of property identified in the ordinance introduced as Council Bill 119195, commonly known as the “Communications Shop”; a source for future operations funding; and delineation of other additional funding necessary for full implementation of the BHIS.
F. The IHS subcabinet shall convene on or before March 1, 2018 and complete its analysis and make final recommendations, including a budget proposal for the BHIS, by May 31, 2018. An interim report shall be due to City Council no later than April 16, 2018. The interim report and final recommendations shall be submitted to the Chair of the Finance and Neighborhoods Committee and Council Central Staff Director. Of the $5,320,000 appropriated to Finance General Reserves (2QD00) by this ordinance, no money shall be encumbered or expended unless authorized by future ordinance.
Section 3. Augmented bridge funding for shelter and hygiene services
Of the $3,000,000 appropriated in this ordinance to the Human Services Department (HSD), Addressing Homelessness (BO-HS-H3000), $1,000,000 may only be used to provide additional one-time bridge funding for emergency shelter and hygiene services for unsheltered individuals through 2018.
A. For emergency shelter, HSD should give preference to funding emergency shelter programs where free or low-cost space is being offered by a private or non-profit partner and should also give attention in particular to agencies that successfully offered shelter or supportive services in the previous year and received 2017 bridge funding.
B. For hygiene services, HSD shall allocate funds to agencies that received City funding for hygiene services in the previous year. HSD should give preference to funding hygiene services (providing restrooms, showers, and laundry) that are available weekends and evenings. HSD also should give preference to funding hygiene services in areas of high need such as Pioneer Square, University District, and Downtown.
Section 4. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force 30 days after its approval by the Mayor, but if not approved and returned by the Mayor within ten days after presentation, it shall take effect as provided by Seattle Municipal Code Section 1.04.020.
Passed by a 3/4 vote of all the members of the City Council the ________ day of _________________________, 2018, and signed by me in open session in authentication of its passage this _____ day of _________________________, 2018.
____________________________________
President ____________ of the City Council
Approved by me this ________ day of _________________________, 2018.
____________________________________
Jenny A. Durkan, Mayor
Filed by me this ________ day of _________________________, 2018.
____________________________________
Monica Martinez Simmons, City Clerk
(Seal)