Wilson’s first proposed budget, unveiled as the city prepares to enter the 2027–28 biennium, calls for a $9.1 billion spending plan across all city funds in 2027, a 2.2% increase from 2026. The mayor’s office says the plan is designed to close a projected general fund gap while protecting core services and avoiding the cycle of annual budget shortfalls that has followed the pandemic.
“I have made the difficult decision to transmit a budget without major new revenue,” Wilson said in an afternoon speech. “Right now, we don’t have good options to raise more progressive revenue that don’t also come with great risks. Our economy and especially our downtown are fragile. In that context, raising additional revenue through JumpStart is not the right move.”
Public safety would receive the largest percentage increase among the city’s service areas under the proposal, rising 13% to about $1.135 billion. The general fund would direct 53% of its roughly $2 billion in spending toward public safety.
The proposed Seattle Police Department budget is $556 million, a net increase of $68 million. It would provide funding for 1,250 officer positions, which budget officials described as 66 more positions than the current funded level. Wilson’s office says SPD has roughly 3,000 applicants in its hiring pipeline.
The proposal also includes $346 million for the Seattle Fire Department, $72.6 million for the city’s CARE Department and $14.8 million to continue funding for police-accountability offices.
No new taxes? Don’t worry conservatives still finding ways to be enraged.
Didn’t Bruce say that Katie’s plan to increase revenue depended on state voting to amend our state constitution during their debate. And now here she is saying her plan to apply progressive taxes won’t be going into effect.
I woke up this morning hoping the city could find at least one more cop to pay today. You know, to keep us safe and such. Keep our neck gently pressed against the pavement or the side walks curve in our teeth. Just hoping we could find more assholes to ram me at high high speeds while following a guy who went 32mph on a 30mph zone. Maybe we could build some schools next to busy freeways so that we would force everyone to slow down from 60 to 20 for just that one stretch. That way a cop could catch us on a daily basis.
Seriously though, I avoid school zones because that’s where the widow makers sit waiting. But then there’s school zones everywhere… I.e. they have weird 25, 30, 35 then 20mph zones all within one or two blocks. Just wanna have a waymo pick me up rather than eventually get stopped to pay my taxes.
Just gonna predict it now: Katie Wilson will become an opp by 2030. She’ll turn bitter and begin endorsing more and more centrist and neoliberal ideals until she’s just as bad if not worse than Bruce Harrell
