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[BRUCE HARRELL] A budget represents more than dollars and cents.
It's not just a funding document or a financial plan.
At its core, budget is a guide for the future:
a course for the year ahead and an investment strategy for our community.
That's why I'm excited to share my 2026 budget proposal
with a focus on proven solutions for the challenges of today.
From affordability and homelessness to accessible food and childcare,
this budget will keep Seattle on our positive trajectory and advance
our vision for making Seattle the safe, welcoming, thriving city
we know it can be.
As we look to the future, there's perhaps no more appropriate place
than our waterfront —
Seattle's new front porch.
The completion of the waterfront represents an end
to an infrastructure project that began when I was on the City Council.
It also represents a new beginning for our city.
Just as neighbors have flocked to Overlook Walk, we know people from around
the globe will soon do the same at the 2026 World Cup.
And if the city is to set the standard for our nation with the best
pedestrian experience in the country, safety must be our priority.
That's why my budget will include a $2-million investment in removable
vehicle barriers, true pedestrian safety improvements to protect the people,
the patrons, and the neighbors of the Pike Place Market.
I'm grateful for the partnership of the Pike Place Market PDA,
and their focus on practical solutions that make the market a friendlier space
and protect the accessibility for residents, those with disabilities,
and the vendors that drive the vitality of this special place.
Those vendors and small businesses across the city
are what make our many neighborhoods what they are.
That's why my budget includes more than $40 million toward
both supporting current small businesses and helping new ones get a foothold.
And soon, voters will consider our proposal that would reduce taxes
for 90% of small and medium sized businesses, while also raising
more than $80 million in revenue focused on protecting critical services
in light of President Trump's cruelty.
Our plan includes nearly $30 million in new investments
directly aimed at insulating us from Trump's regressive
gutting of the sacred pact
that the federal government should help cities and their people, not hurt them.
This investment leads with a 70% budget
increase for our Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs,
with support for legal services for those who are targeted by Trump,
job development programs for new residents, and more.
Not a day goes by where Trump doesn't threaten Seattle's funding,
but our plan makes clear
we will not retreat in the face of bullying and scare tactics.
We are prepared to invest in critical food programs, rental assistance,
and crucial shelter and housing supports.
While Trump and his family lob lies and insults at our beautiful city,
look around us.
This is a crap hole? Really?
We’re writing our own narrative, a narrative that recognizes
we've come a long way from the pandemic, but that we still have work to do.
Unlike the other Washington, we don't ignore the complexity
of our challenges just to make false promises and scapegoat others.
We invest in real solutions, and we do the hard work.
We recognize that to have vibrant neighborhoods,
we have to have safe neighborhoods.
That's why my budget includes $4 million investments in taking the program
we've piloted Downtown and in Little Saigon citywide.
This place-based strategy means a coordinated
cross-department public safety approach:
increased trash removal, spot pressure washing of sidewalks,
improved lighting, outreach and social services, and police actions focused
on those causing neighborhood harm, all designed to boost economic growth.
Where we've tried it, this approach is working.
Along Third Avenue,
911 calls have fallen by 15%
and violent crime is down 20%.
In Little Saigon,
911 calls are down almost 25% and burglary down 32%.
I'll be the first to tell you
we have more work to do in these areas to make them safe and welcoming.
But this investment also means we can bring this proven approach
to more neighborhoods across our city.
I also recently shared our plan to double the city's CARE Department
responder team, which means twice the ability to dispatch
trained behavioral health responders to those in need or in crisis.
This groundbreaking effort is nationally recognized
for shifting the entire paradigm on public safety.
We're also investing in additional firefighter recruits, growing our post
overdose response team, and expanding treatment and behavioral health services—
proven solutions that we know will make a difference.
Over the last several years, we have turned the tide on police hiring.
It has been a long road from the depths of the pandemic, but with a clear
commitment to the values and communities that make this city great,
we've hired nearly 130 officers in 2025,
almost three times as many as we had at this time in 2024.
My budget proposal will ensure we do not go backwards
and will keep hiring with urgency,
helping us toward the right number of officers that we need to restore staffing,
strengthen investigations and responses, and deliver the visible police presence
in communities that Chief Barnes, neighbors, and I want to see.
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Right here,
at First AME Housing Association’s Bryant Manor is a great example of what
we're seeking to achieve by continuing record investments in affordable housing.
The building behind me opened in 2024 with 100 affordable
rental homes for low income families and an onsite early learning center.
And even further behind us is a building that's currently under construction
and will deliver 148 additional affordable rental homes.
As our administration’s grapple with the city's forecasted deficit,
my direction from the beginning has been clear:
we cannot slow down on affordable housing.
That's why we are accelerating our efforts to address
two of our most urgent challenges, affordability and homelessness.
My budget invests nearly $350 million toward affordable housing,
a historic amount reflecting our urgency and commitment.
We're also launching the Anti Displacement and Reparations Housing Fund, committing
$80 million over the next four years to address the impacts of redlining
and displacement that hurt communities like mine for decades.
This builds on our proposal’s $29 million investment in the Equitable
Development Initiative, the largest amount in city history,
to keep diverse cultural spaces alive in our city.
My budget increases ongoing funding for rental assistance by $4 million,
helping invest in the most economical and effective solution to homelessness—
keeping people in their homes.
Every affordable home we build or preserve, and every family
we keep housed means fewer neighbors living in cars or tents and more people
living with the stability, dignity and opportunity that everyone deserves.
But for those who are experiencing homelessness in Seattle,
we know continued action is essential.
My budget will increase our investment in homelessness solutions to $225 million.
And in my administration,
we're turning one time commitments into lasting investments and continuing
to strengthen our shelter system to meet the needs of our unhoused neighbors.
Every shelter bed we fund now includes wraparound services like meals, hygiene,
storage for personal belongings, housing navigation, and caseworkers.
This approach gives people more than a safe place to sleep,
it provides a real opportunity to recover, to get back on their feet,
and move toward permanent housing and long term stability.
Along with our strong housing investments, we've seen a 50% increase
during my administration in the number of people moving from shelter programs
into permanent housing.
At the same time, we've reduced tent encampments by 80%.
But there are too many people still suffering on our streets.
So my budget includes $8 million to open and operate three new shelters next year,
with over 150 new non-congregate beds with wraparound supportive services.
This builds on the nearly 2,900 enhanced shelter beds we currently fund.
We know the scale of the homelessness
crisis is too significant for one city to solve on its own.
Recent King County Regional Homelessness Authority data shows that about
70% of people experiencing homelessness on Seattle streets became homeless
outside of our city.
And even with Seattle providing over 60% of the region's
shelter beds and 85% of the region's tiny homes,
we cannot do this alone.
I've called on the KCHRA to identify available land across King County cities
to find possible solutions with fewer land constraints than we have here.
Put simply, if another city is willing to host needed shelter, we will pay for it.
Just as we are working to combat scarcity and housing,
we must also take on the food deserts and lack of affordability that impact
too many families in Seattle.
My budget includes a $52 million plan, with $12 million in new program investments
to increase the access and affordability of healthy, nutritious food.
While Trump works to eviscerate SNAP benefits,
and as tariffs and inflation and dangerous policies
put the most basic of needs— healthy food—out of reach,
we are proposing a set of real actions that will make a difference:
more affordable food to address hunger, more healthy options
to improve nutrition, and more access to reduce food deserts.
My proposal would invest in food banks and meal programs and double investments
in our renowned Fresh Bucks program, clearing the waitlist
to serve 16,000 families and increasing monthly stipends by 50%.
To ensure a healthy city, our neighbors must have access to healthy food.
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This budget invests in
what makes our city great now and for the future.
This Green Lake Community Center represents exactly what we love
about the city: a place for growth, for community, for learning, and for joy.
This Green Lake Community Center opened in 1928.
As it nears 100 years of age, my budget will deliver
a comprehensive renovation in one complete phase.
So this place is ready to serve our city for the next 100 years.
This is possible because of the creative financial thinking
our team has exemplified throughout this budget process.
With Trump's economic chaos and a fluctuating national economy,
we were faced with a forecasted revenue shortfall of over $200 million.
We took immediate action,
extending our hiring freeze, stopping non-essential travel,
training, and technology upgrades, and moving forward bold proposals
to advance our priorities and safeguard funding for critical programs.
Because of this effective approach, we are able to propose this budget
for the future without touching our rainy day fund and without new layoffs.
This budget also reflects our Every Child
Ready Initiative that is before the voters this November.
It invests in doubling access to affordable childcare for low and middle
income families,
it expands Seattle's nationally awarded preschool program,
and continues the Seattle Promise Program that I originated
as a City Council member.
Investing in the future means investing in our youth.
I stand ready to work with the next superintendent
of public schools to make sure our investments and youth safety
and our innovative approach to mental health resources for every young person
up to age 24 are maximized in supporting
a shared mission for excellent schools.
We know our parks and community centers are often just as important
in the lives of young people.
Under my administration,
we've made restoring access to parks, like here in Green Lake, a central focus.
Parks are often what people tell me they love most about our city.
Sometimes that means
a focus on the basics, which is why my budget goes even further.
To invest in bathroom access at parks, making sure
more of our bathrooms are clean, safe and open year round.
That also goes for our beautiful trees that line our parks and our streets.
We can't take them for granted.
My budget enhances the city's tree maintenance efforts,
but it also funds a new idea to help preserve and protect trees
throughout our neighborhoods.
I will soon issue a new executive order to protect and preserve trees in our city,
which will include a new tree conservation easement program.
This idea will allow for neighbors to receive a property tax
break for protecting preserving a tree on their property.
Seattle's local and national image
has been formed for decades by our commitment to the environment.
And my budget includes a nearly 25% increase in our Office of Sustainability
and Environment, helping drive millions of dollars into climate efforts
that support resilient communities and green jobs opportunities.
Just as important to our climate efforts is our $7 million investment
in staffing to support Sound Transit expansion in Seattle.
In addition to the significant permitting reforms we passed earlier
this year, this investment in more than 50 employees leaves no doubt
Seattle is ready, willing and able to deliver light rail expansion
to Ballard and West Seattle.
We are leading the charge on making sure these projects are built
so that our communities receive
the generational transit investments that we voted for.
Seattle's profile has been uplifted by our incredible art scene
and the vibrant culture that radiates from it.
I don't take that for granted.
We must be intentional in cultivating the next generation of artists
and ensuring that arts are accessible to everyone in our community.
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This is a budget I'm proud of
because it invests in our city, and our people, and the future of Seattle.
Not in the narrative that Donald Trump and his allies spin about our city,
but in the things that we want to define our city.
This is a plan to invest in innovation and problem solving, in affordable
housing, in healthy food, in trees,
parks, transit, and the arts.
It's an investment in ensuring what we love about this city
doesn't fade, but only grows.
I look forward to the City Council's consideration and deliberations.
Together, all of us, from elected officials and city employees,
to community advocates and neighbors,
are building One Seattle.
Thank you.
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