Seattle's Social Housing Initiative Faces Council Roadblock
Initiative 137 is a measure to fund social housing through a tax on employers who pay salaries above $1 million in total compensation. Employers pay the social housing payroll tax, not employees. Instead of placing I-137 directly on the ballot alone, the council is also placing a competing initiative on the ballot.
"Rather than put I-137 on the ballot alone, even though there's plenty of signatures from the public saying they want that, they've been waiting and waiting and waiting because they're trying to develop this alternative," Robert Cruickshank, chair of Sierra Club Seattle, explained.
The council's alternative would redirect funds from the recently approved housing levy, pitting social housing against other affordable housing projects. Jon Grant from the Low Income Housing Institute, the largest affordable housing provider in the region, opposed the council alternative, saying it would drain their resources and hurt efforts to provide affordable housing to those most in need. Experts argue this approach undermines the self-sustaining model of social housing and may result in less affordable housing overall.
Cruickshank sees this as another example of the council prioritizing corporate interests: "I-137 would tax big corporations and wealthy individuals more in order to build social housing in Seattle. And the chamber and those wealthy donors do not want that. They're adamant that their taxes not go up. And so the city council is trying to help them out."
He noted the growing national support for social housing, citing a recent New York Times op-ed by Senator Tina Smith and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez advocating for federal funding of social housing based on Seattle's model.
Recommended Reading
"I-137 would mean funding a housing model for all" by Jeff Paul for Real Change News
"This is Public Housing. Just Don't Call It That." by Conor Dougherty for The New York Times
"Seattle Council Puts Competing Measure Against Social Housing on February Ballot" by Doug Trumm for The Urbanist
