Council debate sharpens over cut to proposed transit tax as speakers warn of lost service

Seattle — The most contested amendment during the July 6 committee hearing was Amendment 13, which would lower the proposed Seattle Transit Measure’s maximum sales-tax rate from 0.3% to 0.2%. Sponsor Councilmember Kettle framed the change as a response to affordability concerns, arguing the city should spend public dollars strategically rather than defaulting to the maximum allowable rate.

Kettle told the committee that cumulative local and regional revenue increases merit caution: “We must spend our public’s dollars strategically instead of just raising sales tax because we can,” he said, framing the amendment as a measured alternative that preserves core programs while easing household burden.

Opponents — including many public commenters and councilmembers who coalesced during the hearing — said the 0.2% option would materially reduce service expansion. Staff and authors’ estimates discussed during the hearing indicated the lower rate would generate about $921 million over 10 years versus roughly $1.38 billion at the 0.3% rate, reducing the total hours Seattle could purchase by about 1.1 million over a decade (author estimates discussed in the hearing; departments flagged the need for formal verification).

Public commenters tied the service-loss calculation to real-world impacts: one remote caller summarized the projected change, saying Amendment 13 “cuts the sales tax rate to .2% — taking $460 million from the transit system” and argued that would eliminate infrastructure categories and hamper reliability. Councilmember Strauss and others said the council should prioritize buying as many hours from Metro as possible and keep the measure focused on service, noting that Metro capacity constraints historically limited how quickly purchased hours can be delivered.

Supporters of the cut stressed the need to weigh cumulative tax impacts on working households and to consider alternative, more progressive revenue sources; several other councilmembers and amendment sponsors proposed complementary language directing the council and partners to pursue state authorization for new local revenue tools (congestion pricing, commercial parking tax) that could replace or augment the sales-tax funding in future years.

No vote on Amendment 13 occurred on July 6; central staff and councilmembers flagged fiscal estimates for follow-up and identified technical edits needed to several amendments before the committee reconvenes.