City Hall
Budget Update: Council Members Say McGinn Unlikely to Get All Fee Increases
This post has been updated with comments from city council members Sally Bagshaw and Nick Licata.
Immediately after the city council meeting this afternoon, at which Mayor Mike McGinn presented his first annual budget speech, city council member Tim Burgess and council president Richard Conlin told PubliCola they think it's unlikely that the council will pass all the revenue increases McGinn proposed in his budget.
Specifically, all three council members pointed to a proposed 5-percent increase in the commercial parking tax---on top of a 2.5 percent increase the council has already proposed to help fund the seawall---as a likely target for reduction. And Burgess said he was alarmed by the proposed utility-tax increases, which would come on top of increases in those taxes the council approved last year.
However, city council member Nick Licata said tonight that he'd be open to potentially passing McGinn's revenue proposals---despite the fact that he says McGinn focused on parking-related fees because "he hates cars"---as, he speculated, would Jean Godden and Mike O'Brien.
"The utility taxes, on top of what we passed last year, are pretty significant," Burgess said, and the five-percent commercial parking tax increase "will be problematic" on top of the 2.5 percent increase.
Bagshaw, echoing Burgess' concerns, said she worried about the impact such a large tax increase---which would raise the commercial parking tax to 17.5 percent---would have on downtown businesses. "It's a big deal for downtown merchants," Bagshaw said. Citing an instance last month when she had to return a large package to Macy's, Bagshaw said, "It became a real question: Do I go downtown, or do I go to Northgate, where parking is free?"
Burgess said he's also interested to see how McGinn came up with a proposal to raise downtown meter parking rates by $1.50 an hour; "I've got to see analysis" that shows such a steep spike won't hurt downtown businesses, he said. A group of Seattle business owners will respond to McGinn's budget at a Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce press conference tomorrow morning.
Conlin said the mayor hadn't yet sent his budget itself to the council, and no one at the council has received a briefing on the budget from the mayor's office. "It's really odd," Conlin said. "Normally, we at least get a briefing on the broad outlines of the budget." Bagshaw confirmed that the mayor's office has not briefed the council on the budget; nor, as of 5:30 this evening, had he transmitted it to the council.
Additionally, Conlin expressed skepticism that McGinn would be as successful as he predicted in recovering $15 million in outstanding parking fines, one of several sources of new revenue he relied on to balance next year's budget. "We all know the parking tickets were out there, but they've been very, very difficult to collect," Conlin said.
And Conlin said he was surprised to hear McGinn ask the council to make a 9.5 percent cut to their own budget, commensurate with the cut McGinn made to his own budget. "We already have" taken that cut," Conlin said. "I'm not sure why he said that. It's in the mayor's budget" already.
Immediately after the city council meeting this afternoon, at which Mayor Mike McGinn presented his first annual budget speech, city council member Tim Burgess and council president Richard Conlin told PubliCola they think it's unlikely that the council will pass all the revenue increases McGinn proposed in his budget.
Specifically, all three council members pointed to a proposed 5-percent increase in the commercial parking tax---on top of a 2.5 percent increase the council has already proposed to help fund the seawall---as a likely target for reduction. And Burgess said he was alarmed by the proposed utility-tax increases, which would come on top of increases in those taxes the council approved last year.
However, city council member Nick Licata said tonight that he'd be open to potentially passing McGinn's revenue proposals---despite the fact that he says McGinn focused on parking-related fees because "he hates cars"---as, he speculated, would Jean Godden and Mike O'Brien.
"The utility taxes, on top of what we passed last year, are pretty significant," Burgess said, and the five-percent commercial parking tax increase "will be problematic" on top of the 2.5 percent increase.
Bagshaw, echoing Burgess' concerns, said she worried about the impact such a large tax increase---which would raise the commercial parking tax to 17.5 percent---would have on downtown businesses. "It's a big deal for downtown merchants," Bagshaw said. Citing an instance last month when she had to return a large package to Macy's, Bagshaw said, "It became a real question: Do I go downtown, or do I go to Northgate, where parking is free?"
Burgess said he's also interested to see how McGinn came up with a proposal to raise downtown meter parking rates by $1.50 an hour; "I've got to see analysis" that shows such a steep spike won't hurt downtown businesses, he said. A group of Seattle business owners will respond to McGinn's budget at a Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce press conference tomorrow morning.
Conlin said the mayor hadn't yet sent his budget itself to the council, and no one at the council has received a briefing on the budget from the mayor's office. "It's really odd," Conlin said. "Normally, we at least get a briefing on the broad outlines of the budget." Bagshaw confirmed that the mayor's office has not briefed the council on the budget; nor, as of 5:30 this evening, had he transmitted it to the council.
Additionally, Conlin expressed skepticism that McGinn would be as successful as he predicted in recovering $15 million in outstanding parking fines, one of several sources of new revenue he relied on to balance next year's budget. "We all know the parking tickets were out there, but they've been very, very difficult to collect," Conlin said.
And Conlin said he was surprised to hear McGinn ask the council to make a 9.5 percent cut to their own budget, commensurate with the cut McGinn made to his own budget. "We already have" taken that cut," Conlin said. "I'm not sure why he said that. It's in the mayor's budget" already.
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