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Seattle voters will soon decide on a massive transportation tax levy that also includes funding a task force to help guide generated revenues toward infrastructure goals.
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s proposed eight-year levy package totals $1.55 billion over its lifespan. Generated funds would go toward Seattle infrastructure needs such as building sidewalks, paving streets, repairing bridges, and improving transit connections, among others.
Harrell’s 2024 transportation levy proposal included a transportation funding task force.
The proposal has already established how much funding each transportation program would receive. However, the transportation funding task force would work to recommend actions to fully build out gaps in the city’s missing sidewalk network while also meeting a long-term sustainable standard for better maintaining the city’s existing sidewalks, bridges and pavement conditions.
“The outcomes of the task force would be a set of actionable recommendations to look at that could help to guide the next step,” Seattle Department of Transportation Deputy Director of Downtown Mobility Meghan Shepard said during a presentation to the Transportation Committee on Tuesday.
Shepard listed examples of possible task force recommendations including policy changes, a defined bond measure, or recommended policy actions to pursue at the state level.
Members of the transportation funding task force would include representatives of community organizations, city transportation boards, labor and building trades, affordable housing developers, and transportation and accessibility advocates.
Tax dollars would go toward this task force for the work it seeks to accomplish. If the transportation levy is passed this November, $1.5 million to $2 million would be set aside for all costs associated with the transportation funding task force.
Alex Pedersen, former Seattle city councilmember and chair of the Seattle Transportation Committee for the previous four years, has voiced his opposition to the levy proposition in the past. Pedersen said the task force is another reason why voters should reject the levy in November.
"City hall is using the task force resolution as a gimmick to get free advertising for their Prop 1 campaign, but this just reinforces why Prop 1 is ineffective," Pedersen said to The Center Square in an email. "Prop 1 already needs corrective legislation because it will squander tax dollars on overly expensive and disruptive projects requested lobbyists, rather than just sticking to the basics of repaving more roads, building more sidewalks, and fixing more bridges."
The resolution to establish a transportation funding task force would be activated once the levy is approved by Seattle voters. The Seattle City Council needs to approve this resolution first.
Afterwards, the task force could form as early as the beginning of 2025, according to Shepard. The task force would then provide city officials with updates every six months until the task force finishes its work in 2027.
The first quarter of next year would be focused on recruitment and onboarding of both the consultants and the task force members.
The Transportation Committee will vote on the resolution on Sept. 17.