Initial results show Seattle voters approve $1.55 billion transportation levy

Initial election results show 66.82% of voters in Seattle have approved the city's biggest property tax levy, according to Washington's Office of Secretary of State (OSOS).

The transportation levy known as Seattle’s Proposition 1will authorize an 8-year tax increase beginning in 2025 of “approximately $650 per $100,000 in assessed value, up to a maximum of $2,710 per $100,000 in assessed value, to fund transportation projects.”

The levy needed a majority of the vote to be approved.

The $1.55 billion, 8-year transportation levy will replace the expiring 2015 “Move Seattle” levy. The new transportation levy will increase the expiring levy rate by 70% on a median home.

The goal of the levy is to fund safety and access projects on sidewalks, bridge maintenance, transit improvements, improved connections to the light rail, infrastructure modernization, and pollution reductions.

The property tax increase was unanimously approved by the Seattle City Council and signed by Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell shortly after.

Harrell’s initial levy proposal called for $1.35 billion. That amount was later refined after public comment and after City Council Transportation Committee Chair Rob Saka added more to the proposal to get to the final amount.

Votes are still being counted and numbers will be updated to reflect the most recent percentage.