🔔Updated 10/2/24 🔔

Essential Workers, Members, Friends, and Allies, 

The Seattle Mayor's and King County Executive's proposed budgets are out! Now the City and County Council will revise those and make a final vote. Here's how they compare to our priorities:

Seattle:

✅ Includes the required inflation adjustment for HSD human services contracts

✅ Maintains the current number of shelter beds, and increases affordable housing overtime. 

❌ Does not include a complete inflation adjustment for KCRHA COC contracts funded by the city

❌ Continues the 2% wage increase from last year, but does not add a 5% wage increase for human services contracts. 

❌ Does not add new, progressive revenue to address the structural budget deficit

❌ Cuts programs that prevent homelessness, and that help people access public benefits and legal support

NOTE: Mayor Harrell's budget proposes to dramatically increase funding for the city's Unified Care Team which removes and clears people who are unsheltered from public places without ensuring they are able to go somewhere better.

King County:

✅ Keeps Public Health Clinics open

✅ Maintains current funding for shelter, and the County's current level of investments in affordable homes. 

❌ Does not include an inflation or wage adjustment for homelessness services

NOTE: We are still evaluating the impact on other public health services that serve people experiencing homelessness 

• Ensure no loss of capacity in our joint Seattle and King County homelessness crisis response system. Maintain funding for 300 shelter beds that were supported with "one-time" funding. We cannot afford to lose ANY capacity in homelessness services, and we need ADDITIONAL quality shelter capacity to meet our community's needs - thousands have no shelter and shelters are full. 

• Increase ALL homeless service contracts to keep up with inflation and the cost of providing quality services. Seattle law requires the city to increase all Human Services Department contracts with inflation. However, that law doesn't include ALL homelessness services, or human services. Seattle and King County councilmembers need to make sure the whole sector can keep up with rising costs.

• Increase human services wages by at least 5% in 2025, IN ADDITION to contract inflation adjustments. The authors of a UW study on wage equity found that Human Services workers are paid significantly less than their peers in other sectors, and recommended at least a 7% increase to human services wages by 2025 to help keep talent in the sector. In 2024, the Mayor included a 2% wage adjustment in the budget. 

• Maintain support for Public Health programs that serve people experiencing homelessness, including Public Health Clinics and the Healthcare for the Homeless Network

• Maintain support for programs that prevent homelessness, and connect people experiencing homelessness with public benefits and legal representation.

• Add new, progressive revenue to ensure that local governments can support homelessness services in the future.