SEATTLE — The Seattle City Council approved a housing levy that would generate nearly $1 billion over the next seven years on Tuesday.
Council Bill 120564 will be considered by Seattle voters during a November special election. The levy would fund affordable rental housing, rent supplementing and wage stabilization in the city.
If approved by voters, the proposal would lift the limit on property taxes for up to seven years so they can be increased.
The levy is estimated to cost the average Seattle homeowner $383 a year and would generate $138.7 million annually. This amounts to 970 million over seven years.
City analysts predict the levy would fund the building of over 3,100 housing units, and help nearly 10,000 households across Seattle.
"If the city doesn't produce homes, no one else will and more Seattle residents will be pushed out of the city or just outside onto the streets," City Councilmember Lisa Herbold said during a previous meeting.
Over $825 million of the seven-year total in the proposal is earmarked for building and maintaining new and existing affordable housing in the city, as well as operating support for levy-funded buildings for 20 years.
The proposal would replace the 2016 Housing Levy, which expires at the end of 2023.
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