1) The so-called "head tax," a 25-per-employee tax (excluding employees who take public transit or walk or bike to work) that funds transportation projects, may not be as easy to overturn as Mayor Greg Nickels and Council Members Tim Burgess and Richard Conlin had hoped.

Nickels, Burgess, and Conlin have proposed overturning the tax, which brings in about $5 million a year for transportation projects. However, several council members now say they oppose getting rid of the tax, pointing out that the mayor has not identified which projects he will eliminate to make up the $5 million annual shortfall. And some council members want to wait until the fall—budget time—to decide whether to eliminate the tax.

That would give council members and the mayor more time to discuss whether cutting $5 million in transportation project annually is a good idea, but it would also take away a major campaign issue for the mayor and Conlin, both running for reelection.  Meanwhile, some council members worry that if they wait, the mayor will send his budget to them without the cut, forcing council members to pick their own list of projects for elimination (and to take the blame for popular projects that get cut).

2) Rumor has it that a major City Light rate increase is in the works—potentially as much as 20 percent.

3) Council member Nick Licata's office has identified 24 "spaces open to the public" in downtown Seattle—semisecret plazas, courtyards, and parks the city required developers to include in their building projects that are hard to find unless you know where to look. Licata says he may propose legislation requiring better identification of such spaces in the future, but for now, he says, he's focused on identifying them and letting the public know they're there.

"You can't have good public policy without information," he says. "Policy amnesia is one of the largest detriments to progress." So far, 12 of the 24 spaces have been identified with signs inviting the public to use them.

4) This Thursday, the council's budget committee will take up a proposal to raise the ceiling on city business and occupation taxes, exempting small businesses that make up to $100,000 a year. Currently, the tax applies to businesses that make more than $80,000. Cutting B&O taxes is popular during recessions (KC exec candidate Susan Hutchison has proposed slashing the state B&O tax as well); however, unlike Hutchison's $110 million proposal, the city estimates that their proposed cut will cost about $100,000 a year.

5) Four of the candidates for county executive will debate environmental issues at tonight's "King County Green Choice" event at Town Hall, 1119 8th Ave, starting at 7:00 pm. Hutchison, who made a rare Seattle appearance at last night's League of Women Voters candidate forum (we'll have a report on that later), will not appear at tonight's event.

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