Today, Mayor Bruce Harrell released the 2023–2024 Proposed Budget for the City of Seattle. This budget reflects Mayor Harrell’s continued commitment to bold action on the priorities of our communities—investing to address urgent needs and emphasizing the essentials as we build One Seattle.
Mayor Harrell’s proposal invests in creating safe, healthy, and thriving communities by supporting efforts to deliver effective public safety, build housing, address the homelessness crisis, and drive opportunity and equity for all. This budget responds to the City’s ongoing and long-term revenue gap, as expenditures continue to exceed General Fund revenues, balancing immediate priorities with the resources available to respond and by identifying improvements and efficiencies.
With the investments in this budget proposal, we can work together to advance our shared One Seattle vision and an agenda that will inspire the best in our city and keep us moving forward. Thank you to all HSD staff and our community providers for your partnership in this work.
Human Services Department (HSD) is allotted $305M in the 2023–2024 Proposed Budget. The budget aligns with the Mayor’s top commitments of investing in community safety for all ($47.3M) and addressing homelessness with urgency and compassion ($108M). Further investments will aid the department in strengthening Seattle’s safety net through senior nutrition, increasing early learning capacity, and expanding community health.
The following is a summary of some of HSD’s key changes in the 2023–2024 Proposed Budget:
- Community Safety Investments: The proposed budget prioritizes continued investments in safe communities and provides $5.8M in ongoing funding that address gun violence and community safety concerns; $1.4M in ongoing funding to continue programs supporting individual rejoining the community post incarceration; $1.25M in ongoing funding to support the Co-LEAD program; and a $1.25M one-time investment to open tiny house villages for Co-LEAD clients.
- Homelessness Investments: The City’s support for individuals experiencing homelessness is continued through $1.3M of ongoing funding to expand the Unified Care Team and increase system navigation support by 150 percent—helping individuals experiencing homelessness connect with shelter and services; $3.38M of ongoing funding for safe parking programs; $2.6M of one-time funding to establish new safe parking sites; $2.4M to open and operate new Tiny House Villages; and $1.2M to sustain operations at tiny house villages funded with one-time funding in 2022. Homelessness investments also include $88M to the King County Regional Homelessness Authority for outreach, shelter, and other critical programs. Excluding last year’s one-time federal dollars, this represents a 13 percent increase in the City’s investment in KCRHA.
- Senior Nutrition: The City is investing in nutritious meals for all through $100K in ongoing funding to expand senior home delivered meals services.
- Early Learning Capacity: The City is creating additional capacity for early centers through a $5M one-time investment in the development of the Rainier Valley Early Learning Campus.
- Community Health: The City is supporting a healthier Seattle for all through $250k ongoing funding for reproductive healthcare access and $335k one-time funding in 2023 and 2024 for the Healthy Seattle Initiative.
- Inflationary Increase for Community-Based Agencies: The City is providing an inflationary increase of nearly $7.3M in the proposed 2023 budget and $14.9M in 2024 for HSD’s contracted service providers to support equitable pay for employees and organizational capacity.
Over the next two months, the City Council will review the Mayor’s proposed budget. Public hearings are scheduled on Oct. 11, Nov. 8, and Nov. 15. Final adoption of the budget is expected on Tuesday, Nov. 22.
More information about details in the budget can be found at www.seattle.gov/budget. You can direct questions to MOS_COMMS@seattle.gov.