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Dear friends and neighbors,
This week I announced my 2025-2026 budget proposal in Council Chambers – a familiar place from my terms on the City Council.
As mayor, it is my obligation to ensure the City is spending every dollar we have toward the needs of Seattle communities in a responsible, efficient, and effective way, and I am proud that this proposal achieves that.
The proposal closes the General Fund deficit the City is facing without sacrificing the essential public-facing services that residents rely upon like our libraries, parks, and community centers and makes substantial new investments in our core priorities like housing, public safety, and economic recovery.
This budget makes a $342 million investment to support affordable housing in 2025 and an additional $343 million in 2026 – the largest single investments in affordable housing in Seattle’s history and building on the significant investments made in my first three years of office. This will fund thousands of new affordable and permanent supportive housing units, creating needed new places for people to live.
It makes new investments in increasing public safety for all neighborhoods in our city, adding new positions to the Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) Department so they can expand their behavioral health responder team citywide and funding new firefighter and paramedic recruits. It will also allow us to triple our spending in 2025 on lifesaving public health strategies to address the opioid crisis and help more people suffering from addiction get the services they need to recover.
Our budget proposal continues advancing our economic recovery efforts with a focus on downtown revitalization and uplifting our small businesses. It will also foster a vibrant arts scene with new public art activations and support for our local artists and creatives.
With our One Seattle values as a strong foundation, we’ve managed to achieve a lot in this budget proposal. I look forward to the partnership with Councilmembers as work together to build a city that is safe, equitable, and thriving.
Thank you,
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Bruce A. Harrell
Mayor of Seattle
Working Together to Build One Seattle
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Mayor Harrell’s 2025-2026 budget proposal continues to drive progress on One Seattle priorities like improving safety for all neighbors, building more affordable housing and reducing homelessness, and uplifting small businesses.
Highlights of the budget proposal include:
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$28 million for the Equitable Development Initiative to prevent displacement and support property ownership and capacity building at community-based organizations.
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$19.25 million for youth mental health and safety outcomes for Seattle students, advancing the investment strategy announced at the start of the 2024-2025 school year and building on the $12.5 million in ongoing youth investments through the Human Services Department.
- $10 million to curb violent criminal behavior through emphasis patrols and proactive policing in hot spots where it is concentrated.
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$7.4 million in small business supports, including activating vacant storefronts and supporting access to capital.
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$3.2 million to keep 300 shelter beds open that were previously funded by one-time federal investments and otherwise would have closed.
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$3.1 million to establish a Real Time Crime Center to leverage technology to triage and coordinate emergency responses and hire civilian staff to support sworn officers.
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$2.7 million to add firefighter recruits and paramedic students to the Seattle Fire Department.
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$2.3 million to expand service hours for the Unified Care Team focused on responding to areas most frequently repopulated with encampments to keep public spaces accessible and welcoming.
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$2 million to increase supportive services for survivors of commercial sexual exploitation on Aurora Avenue and citywide.
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$1.9 million to add 23 new positions in the Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) Department, expanding services citywide, seven days a week.
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$1.2 million to more than double Automated School Zone Cameras at 19 school zones to address dangerous speeding and support student safety.
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$500K to abate and demolish dangerous vacant buildings, supporting legislation proposed by Mayor Harrell this year to reduce fires and other hazards.
Before the start of the 2024-2025 school year, Mayor Harrell joined with Superintendent Brent Jones and other community partners to announce new investments in youth mental health and student safety. Investments include:
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$5.6 million to hire additional mental health counselors in 21 school-based health centers.
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$2.4 million to expand telehealth therapy services to over 2,000 students.
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$4.25 million to fund community-based partners providing violence prevention and intervention support.
These new investments build on Mayor Harrell’s Reach Out initiative, launched in 2023, which is focused prevention and intervention of youth behavioral health challenges and provides free resources and training to adults to support young people in distress.
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 Mayor Harrell visited frontline staff at Seattle Public Utilities to thank them hard work crews do in helping the utility function efficiently and effectively and ensuring our city stays connected and safe.
 Mayor Harrell joined community partners to release the City’s updated Food Action Plan, a roadmap for how the city can build a sustainable and equitable local food system and reduce food insecurity.
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 On a sunny summer day, Mayor Harrell joined other local leaders for the grand opening of the Seattle Aquarium’s Ocean Pavilion. The Overlook Walk, the next addition to Seattle’s transformative waterfront effort, opens on October 4.
 To help revitalize Seattle's arts scene, Mayor Harrell joined community leaders at the Belltown Mural Fest. The effort was part of the Downtown Mural project, which added 30 new vibrant murals to downtown neighborhoods.
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Coming together with federal, state, and county partners, Mayor Harrell helped cut the ribbon to the new Rapid Ride G line which will strengthen transit service.
 Mayor Harrell congratulated the 2024 Seattle Youth Employment Program interns on the completion of their internships and commended them on spending their summer growing important skills.
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 Mayor Harrell joined the celebration to announce the future permanent renaming of a portion of Second Ave North between Denny Way and Lenny Wilkins Way as “Sue Bird Court” to celebrate the Seattle basketball legend.
 Mayor Harrell went on a Community Connections tour in Green Lake and Roosevelt to meet with small business owners, community leaders, and neighbors.
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The City of Seattle is hiring for essential public safety position in police, fire, and the CARE department. Make a difference in your community by joining the One Seattle team.
The Seattle Fire Department application period will be open October 4 through November 29, 2024, selected candidates from this application period will be eligible to join firefighter recruitment classes over the next two years. The Seattle Police Department is actively hiring new and lateral officers on an ongoing basis as we continue significant strides in recruitment, applications are on track to be at their highest level since 2013. The Seattle CARE Department is currently hiring Crisis Responders as we expand this innovative program citywide and seven days a week.
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