Tim Burgess' City View

Backyard Cottages

I visited several backyard cottages in southeast Seattle with colleagues Sally Clark and Jean Godden yesterday afternoon.  The above photograph was taken in the Mt Baker neighborhood; the garage up the driveway with red doors has been converted to a living unit.  The City Council will soon begin consideration of legislation allowing backyard cottages citywide.

The Council's Planning, Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee will discuss this issue in August.

Here are important resources as we begin to study this issue and prepare for a September decision.

For a general overview of the Mayor's proposal, plus the specific legislation, click to the backyard cottage section of the Department of Planning and Development website.  For more in-depth detail and perspective, click to the Seattle Planning Commission website and scroll down to the section dealing with backyard cottages. 

Federal Stimulus Money Going Rural

There is a very informative article in today's New York Times that documents where much of the federal stimulus money for transportation is being spent; not in the country's major metropolitan areas.  Be sure to click on this link to see a quick snapshot of how the nation's largest cities are doing, including an interesting factoid about Washington State. 

Even More Facts On Employee Hours (Head) Tax

The Council's Transportation Committee held a very informative discussion this morning on possible repeal of the Employee Hours Tax.  Watch the committee meeting on the Seattle Channel.  Or, read this SeattlePI.com or this Seattle Times account of the meeting. 

Also today, the city's finance director issued this summary of the likely impact of repeal of the tax:  Download EHT Repeal Effects 7-7--09.  His conclusion:  minimal impact, all projects will be funded.

Councilmember Conlin and I, along with several other sponsors, will introduce the repeal legislation in the next couple of weeks.  The legislation will be assigned to the Council's Finance and Budget Committee for deliberation, with a final vote likely when the Council acts on the overall 2010 budget in the fall.

See my earlier posts on this topic here. 

More FACTS About Employee Hours Tax

I'm keenly aware of the push-back from pedestrian safety, bicycle and alternative-transportation advocates who strongly disagree with our initiative to repeal Seattle's so-called head tax on employees.  Read my earlier posts here.

These advocates argue that the Employee Hours Tax (EHT) encourages use of alternative transportation modes and funds important bicycle and neighborhood transportation projects. 

But, the facts support repealing this tax that creates a negative impression of the job-creation and business climate in Seattle.  Seattle is the only city in the region to impost both a employee hours tax and a business and occupation tax, and our B & O tax is the highest.  Check out this table: Download EHT-BO Tax Comparison 7-4-09.  Our job-creation climate is very important to me and my colleagues.  The signals we send, even if the direct out-of-pocket cost is small, are important.  Impressions matter. 

A better, and more direct, way to encourage alternative transportation (e.g., transit, carpooling, walking, cycling, etc.) is to raise on-street parking rates and commercial parking taxes; commuters would directly feel these cost increases, instead of their employers through the EHT, and may entertain alternatives.

At the end of the day, the Council identifies transportation project priorities and determines how funds will be allocated among those projects.  There is no sentiment to cut back on pedestrian, bicycle or sidewalk projects.  None.  Adjustments to long-term financing, the reduction in construction costs, and higher than expected parking tax revenues will allow us to move forward with higher than anticipated funds for these important projects. 

Big Vote On Downtown Park Boulevard

The Council voted 9-0 yesterday afternoon to create a four-block park boulevard on Bell Street between First and Fifth Avenues.  Read Seattle Times story here. 

This is a very big deal because this park boulevard will (1) improve pedestrian safety in this section of Belltown, one of the highest population density neighborhoods in the city, (2) improve public safety by bringing more people to the expanded sidewalks, and (3) increase our "green zone" in the center city. 

There is discussion underway about similar projects, including along Pike Street from the Market to the Convention Center, along Third Avenue, and perhaps in some outer neighborhoods.  All good ideas to further our goal of making Seattle the most walkable city in the country. 

More on Employee Hours Tax or Head Tax

Several people have contacted me about my sponsorship of repeal of the Employee Hours Tax (EHT), expressing fear that important pedestrian safety and other neighborhood transportation projects will be at risk.  (Read my earlier post.)

My study of this issue leads me to conclude that repeal of this tax will not negatively impact projects.  Consider these factors.

 

When this transportation tax cocktail was conceived in 2006 the total estimated revenue from the Commercial Parking Tax (CPT) and the Employee Hours Tax for the period 2007-2015 was $183.7 million.  In the Spring of 2008, this estimate was updated based on actual performance of the taxes up to $198.7 million.  This Spring, another updated estimate was produced, again based on the actual performance of the two taxes, and showed total revenues of $212.8 million.  The CPT is driving this increased revenue, not the EHT.

 

Based on the Spring 2009 estimate, and assuming repeal of the EHT effective January 1, these two tax sources will generate $191.2 million, about $7.5 million more than the original estimate.  So, by 2015 we should be able to complete an equal amount of work when compared to what was promised the voters.  Other steps that may also be taken, such as extending bond repayments from 15 to 20 years, could also free up some cash for projects around town.

Council Town Hall Meeting Thursday Night

The Council will hold a Town Hall meeting Thursday (June 25) to discuss youth violence, public education, and the city's tree canopy in West Seattle.  Dr. Gary Slutkin is our special guest.  Slutkin is head the the Chicago Ceasefire project which has had a remarkable track record in reducing gun violence, and youth violence in particular.  Join us if you can.

Date/Time:  Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. (Doors open at 6 p.m.)
Location:  The Hall at Fauntleroy, 9131 California Avenue SW (Map)

Economic Growth, City Taxes and Budget

Mayor Nickels, Council President Conlin, and I announced today that we will seek repeal of the City's Employee Hours Tax, the so-called Head Tax.  You can read the news release here: Download EHT Repeal Release 6-23-09

This tax on job creation was adopted by the Council in 2006 and first collected in 2007.  It was adopted during good economic times, but has been complicated to understand and difficult to collect.  During my campaign for the Council in 2007 I promised to work for repeal of this tax.

We worked closely with the Mayor over the past several months to identify obstacles to economic growth and we agree that repeal of this tax will encourage job growth.  The tax has generated less revenue than anticipated, but more importantly it has negative consequences because it taxes the creation of new jobs.  Repeal of this tax will signal that Seattle wants a strong local economy and will take proactive steps to create a job-growth environment where our small and large businesses can flourish.

There are other steps we can take as well.

Thursday Town Hall Meeting Reminder

The Seattle City Council is holding a Town Hall meeting this Thursday which will feature a keynote address by Dr. Gary Slutkin, the Executive Director of The Chicago Project for Violence Prevention.  Dr. Slutkin was an epidemiologist with the World Health Organization for many years, and since 1995 has worked on the violence epidemic with Chicago leaders, clergy, and law enforcement to develop and implement new strategies for violence reduction.  We hope you will attend this important presentation and share your views on how Seattle can best address the challenge of youth violence.

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and the program will start promptly at 6:30 p.m.  

Thursday, June 25, 2009 

Doors Open - 6:00 pm

Program Starts - 6:30 pm

The Hall at Fauntleroy 

9131 California Avenue SW

Beware: More Police Stings to Protect Pedestrians

Here is the text of an email received this afternoon from Seattle police related to their continuing stings aimed at drivers who fail to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks.  As we've written many times before . . . drivers beware!

"Members of various traffic squads conducted a pedestrian crosswalk enforcement operation at two locations  on Wednesday, June 17 - the first at 41st & Stone Way in North Precinct and the second at Martin Luther King Way & Alder in East Precinct.  We were joined and observed at roll call for the 41st & Stone operation by three people from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, including former SPD Captain John Moffatt.

 

"From 10 AM to 11 AM we conducted operations at 41st & Stone.  In that time we wrote 32 citations for driver's failure to yield right of way to pedestrians and 27 other citations, including 12 insurance, 11 expired tabs, 2 no valid license, 1 passing in turn lane, and 1 seat belt citation.

 

"From 12:30 PM to about 1:45 PM we worked the MLK & Alder location.  This crosswalk has been repaved recently by SDOT as a raised crosswalk.  Here we wrote 23 right of way pedestrian citations and 10 others, including 7 insurance, 2 expired tabs and 1 driving with license suspended citation.

 

"This totals 55 right of way pedestrian citations and 37 others.  During the operations, there were 161 police crosswalk crossings  and 33 civilian crossings, totaling 194 pedestrian crossings.  Approximately 28% of these crossings resulted in failure to yield to pedestrian citations.  With a total of 92 citations, this was our most productive day of operations in recent memory.

 

"Our next operation date will be scheduled in the near future."