Last Friday, May 15th, the Seattle City Council met to discuss specific program and policy issues related to the Housing Levy. The item that received the most attention was the one most obviosly missing from the Mayor’s proposal: income targeting.
The Mayor’s proposal included targeting for the lowest income level. At least 55% of rental funds must be used for people with incomes below 30% of median income. By law, the funds must all be used for people earning less than 80% of median income. Councilmembers discussed what to do with the other 45% of funds and how to distribute them among all those families earning between 30% and 80% of median income.
After some attempts at word smithing by Councilmembers Rasmussen and McIver, Councilmember Sally Clark summed up the council’s intent to ensure that the funds are serving those most in need while not putting so many restrictions on the funds that they are unusable.
It looks like the council will settle on adding a restriction that no more than about 10% of rental funds can serve families earning more than 60% of median income. That leaves at least 35% of funds, and probably more, for low wage families earning between 31% and 60% of median income.
For your viewing pleasure, the Seattle Channel has the entire discusson:
City Council Housing Levy Discussion
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