CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
title
AN ORDINANCE relating to the City’s 2021 Budget; amending Ordinance 126237, which adopted the 2021 Budget, including the 2021-2026 Capital Improvement Program (CIP); changing appropriations to the Seattle Department of Transportation in various budget control levels; and revising project allocations for certain projects in the 2021-2026 CIP; all by a 3/4 vote of the City Council.
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WHEREAS, the Seattle City Council formed a transportation benefit district in 2010 and imposed a $20 annual vehicle license fee that went into effect in 2011 for transportation purposes, which was increased to a total of $80 per year after Seattle voters approved a six-year measure called Proposition 1 in 2014; and
WHEREAS, in the 2019 general election, in spite of overwhelming rejection by Seattle voters, a majority of state voters approved Initiative 976, which, among multiple subjects, attempted to repeal statutory authority for local jurisdictions to impose vehicle license fees at an annual rate of up to $100; and
WHEREAS, after passage of I-976, the City joined King County and several other local transit agencies and jurisdictions from around the state in a filing a challenge in King County Superior Court against the constitutionality of I-976; and
WHEREAS, the Superior Court judge determined that Seattle and the other plaintiff jurisdictions had a reasonable likelihood of prevailing and being irreparably harmed if the initiative went into effect before its constitutionality could be determined and, therefore, issued an injunction preventing the initiative from going into effect; and
WHEREAS, the City held much of the Seattle Transportation Benefit District revenues in reserve pending the ultimate outcome of the constitutional challenge at the Washington State Supreme Court; and
WHEREAS, while the court case was being appealed to the Supreme Court, Seattle voters approved a new sales tax-based Proposition 1 for transit service to replace the 2014 measure that expired at the end of 2020; and
WHEREAS, on October 15, 2020 the Supreme Court held I-976 to be unconstitutional thereby freeing up $23 million in revenues that had been collected by the City and held in reserve; and
WHEREAS, after consulting with Seattle’s Transit Advisory Board and Levy to Move Seattle Oversight Committee, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has developed a detailed set of priority projects and service requiring minor amendments to budget provisions appropriating these funds; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF SEATTLE AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. In order to pay for necessary costs and expenses incurred or to be incurred in 2021, but for which insufficient appropriations were made due to causes that could not reasonably have been foreseen at the time of the making of the 2021 Budget, appropriations for the following items in the 2021 Budget are increased from the funds shown, as follows:
|
Item |
Department |
Fund |
Budget Summary Level/BCL Code |
Amount |
|
1.1 |
Seattle Dept of Transportation |
Seattle Transportation Benefit District (19900) |
Mobility Operations (19000-BO-TR-17003) |
$5,000,000 |
|
Total |
|
|
|
$5,000,000 |
Section 2. Appropriations in the 2021 Budget and project allocations in the 2021-2026 Adopted Capital Improvement Program, which are backed by revenues, are modified as follows:
|
Item |
Department |
Fund |
Budget Summary Level/BCL Code |
BCL Appropriation Change |
CIP Project Name |
2021 CIP Allocations |
|
2.1 |
Seattle Department of Transportation |
Transportation Benefit District (19900) |
Mobility Capital (19900-BC-TR-19003) |
$4,350,000 |
Transit Corridor Improvements (BC-TR-19003) |
(($1,928,000)) $6,278,000 |
|
2.2 |
Seattle Department of Transportation |
Transportation Benefit District (19900) |
Mobility Capital (19900-BC-TR-19003) |
$300,000 |
Route 40 Transit-Plus Multimodal Corridor (MC-TR-C079) |
(($833,000)) $1,133,000 |
|
2.3 |
Seattle Department of Transportation |
Transportation Benefit District (19900) |
Mobility Capital (19900-BC-TR-19003) |
$400,000 |
BRT Concepts Design (MC-TR-C010) |
(($239,000) $639,000 |
|
2.4 |
Seattle Department of Transportation |
Transportation Benefit District (19900) |
Major Maintenance/ Replacement (19900-BC-TR-19001) |
$650,000 |
Signal Major Maintenance (MC-TR-C026) |
(($1,436,000)) $2,086,000 |
|
2.5 |
Seattle Department of Transportation |
Transportation Benefit District (19900) |
Mobility Capital (19900-BC-TR-19003) |
$4,300,000 |
23rd Avenue Corridor Improvements (MC-TR-C037) |
(($0)) $4,300,000 |
|
Net Change |
$10,000,000 |
|
|
These modifications shall operate for the purposes of decreasing or increasing the basis for the limit imposed by subsection 4(c) of Ordinance 126237.
Section 3. The modifications to the 2021-2026 Adopted Capital Improvement Program for the above items are as reflected in Attachments A (Transit Corridor Improvements), B (Route 40 Transit-Plus Multimodal Corridor), C (BRT Concepts Design), D (Signal Major Maintenance) and E (23rd Avenue Corridor Improvements) to this ordinance.
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 _________________________, 2021, and signed by me in open session in authentication of its passage this _____ day of _________________________, 2021.
____________________________________
President ____________ of the City Council
Approved / returned unsigned / vetoed this ________ day of _________________, 2021.
____________________________________
Jenny A. Durkan, Mayor
Filed by me this ________ day of _________________________, 2021.
____________________________________
Monica Martinez Simmons, City Clerk
(Seal)
Attachments:
Attachment A - 23rd Avenue Corridor Improvements
Attachment B - BRT Concepts Design
Attachment C - Route 40 Transit-Plus Multimodal Corridor
Attachment D - Signal Major Maintenance
Attachment E - Transit Corridor Improvements