Seattle’s slowing construction industry and underperforming employment growth continue to underpin the budget headache facing the city’s decision-makers. Combined with growing labor costs and ongoing programs funded in recent years, city politicians face a difficult math equation to balance the budget, as they’re required to do.
The Seattle City Council’s most recent economic forecast does little to assuage any budget anxiety facing City Hall, as the near-term outlook for sales and business taxes in the metropolitan area continues to look sluggish. The city’s budget is approaching a roughly $240 million deficit for 2025. That number could grow depending on how the finances of the city’s most recent labor agreement with the Seattle Police Officers Guild shake out. Though not a surprise, a presentation Monday from officials with the city’s new Office of Economic and Revenue Forecasts concluded lawmakers in City Hall aren’t likely to have the burden of closing that gap lifted from their shoulders.
