CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
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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 P...
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