Mayor Wilson Releases 2027-2028 Proposed Budget, Prioritizing Stability, Safety, and Affordability

Balanced budget protects essential services, expands shelter and food access, and invests in public safety, while making disciplined decisions to close an inherited structural deficit

Seattle — A city reveals its values not in what it says, but in where it chooses to invest. That belief sits at the center of Mayor Katie B. Wilson's first proposed budget, transmitted to the Seattle City Council today for the 2027-2028 biennium.

The $9.1 billion total proposed budget for 2027 makes the difficult, disciplined choices needed to make progress toward closing a structural General Fund deficit inherited from prior administrations, while protecting and expanding the services Seattle residents rely on most: shelter and homelessness response, public safety and Vision Zero, food access, affordable housing, and support for youth, immigrants, refugees, and the LGBTQ+ community. It is the first budget since the pandemic began to project four consecutive years of balance, from 2027 through 2030.

"When I took office, I inherited a General Fund deficit estimated at $175 million. That gap had been growing since the pandemic began, through years of high inflation, as the needs in our city rose while the funding to meet them did not keep pace. For years, that deficit was papered over rather than faced head-on," said Mayor Wilson. "That ends today. We cannot keep lurching from shortfall to shortfall, year after year. We cannot keep kicking the can down the road, because there is no more road. This budget tells the truth about where we are and still dares to point toward where we are going."

Read the mayor's budget remarks.

Closing the Deficit While Protecting Core Services

Since 2020, Seattle’s budget has opened with a projected deficit and closed it with one-time funding, restricted revenues, and temporary measures like hiring freezes. Mayor Wilson's proposed budget breaks that cycle by aligning department budgets to actual spending, eliminating long-vacant positions, and being honest that programs funded with one-time money cannot simply be carried forward as though that money still exists.

This approach results in nearly $50 million in reductions to General Fund spending each year and eliminates 128 full-time positions, 15 of which are currently filled.

"I do not take reductions lightly," said Mayor Wilson. "Every filled position represents a person with a family budget of their own. I made this decision because the alternative was worse, delaying the inevitable would only dig a deeper hole, and lead to deeper cuts."

The proposed budget does not draw down the City's fiscal reserves and continues to make required contributions to the Revenue Stabilization Account, Emergency Fund, and JumpStart Payroll Expense Tax Reserve.

Revenue: Solving for Now, Building Toward the Future

Rather than raising the JumpStart Payroll Expense Tax during a period of economic uncertainty for Seattle's business community, the proposed budget balances primarily through spending discipline, systemic reform, and operational efficiencies. While JumpStart revenue continues to support the General Fund and other essential services, this budget dedicates over 30% of annual JumpStart revenue to affordable housing, a share Mayor Wilson has committed to growing in future years.

Mayor Wilson remains intent on pursuing new progressive revenue options, including a local capital gains tax, but the state timeline for implementing such a tax means it cannot close today's gap.

Bringing People Indoors and Keeping Neighbors Housed

Unsheltered homelessness remains one of the most urgent challenges facing Seattle, and the proposed budget backs Mayor Wilson's recently announced shelter accelerator plan with the resources to deliver it. The budget funds $183 million in ongoing investments to address homelessness, including $37 million to add nearly 1,000 new shelter beds by the end of 2027, serving an estimated 1,750 people annually.

The budget also sustains rental assistance and homelessness prevention investments to help people stay housed in the first place and preserves the Office of Housing's $140.2 million allocation of JumpStart funding, more than 30% of projected 2027 JumpStart revenue, along with a new Housing Ombud position to help affordable housing developers navigate permitting.

"My budget takes on a crisis that has escalated for far too long. It is too easy for people to fall into homelessness and too hard for people to get the care and support needed to get out," said Mayor Wilson. "This budget doesn't promise quick fixes that paper over real problems. It invests in the shelter and services that give people a genuine path to stability, not just a night indoors."

A Comprehensive Approach to Public Safety

The proposed budget funds 1,250 sworn Seatle Police Department positions in each year of the biennium, 66 more than the current year’s budget, while continuing more than $100 million in annual investments in community safety, violence prevention and intervention, diversified emergency response, and survivor services.

The budget also delivers the resources behind Mayor Wilson's newly announced Gun Violence Plan, including a new Director and a new Coordinator of Gun Violence Reduction at the Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) Department, the transfer of community violence intervention contracts to CARE for a more coordinated response, and a new City Attorney's Office position dedicated to Extreme Risk Protection Orders.

"Belonging means feeling safe in your own neighborhood, on your own block, walking to the bus or the park. A city can't thrive if people are scared to enjoy it," said Mayor Wilson. "My budget affirms that public safety is about the essential work of our first responders, and also about prevention, intervention, and upstream investment, so that fewer moments become crises in the first place."

Standing Up for Seattle's Values

The proposed budget puts Seattle's values into practice through direct investment in the communities and residents most affected by rising costs and targeted federal actions. As grocery prices climb and federal food assistance faces cuts, the budget adds $10 million to make permanent the Fresh Bucks expansion and support for food banks and meal delivery programs that were added with one-time funds in 2026. It also guarantees every child in Seattle Public Schools access to free breakfast and lunch at school.

The budget also sustains $4 million in ongoing support for immigrant and refugee communities, including legal defense services and rapid response programs, and makes a new $500,000 ongoing commitment to support queer and trans communities, building on recommendations from the City's Queer and Trans Stabilization Interdepartmental Team.

"Seattle welcomes people fleeing oppression, wherever they are from," said Mayor Wilson. "A city is not measured by how it treats the people already thriving. It is measured by whether the person struggling the most can still look up and see a future that includes them."

Investing in Affordability and Community

Beyond these priorities, the proposed budget supports transit and library hours, nearly doubles recreational scholarships for income-eligible residents, adds 12 new public restrooms across the city, and funds planning for a 2027 bond measure to support the redevelopment of Seattle Center. It also funds enforcement of the City's newly signed ban on rental junk fees and implementation of Seattle's first-in-the-nation Fair and Transparent Pricing policy to address algorithmic price discrimination on groceries and essential goods.

"This budget is about the basics that make life in Seattle work: getting to work and school on time, having a library open when you need it, and knowing your kids can play at a park with a restroom nearby," said Mayor Wilson. "These are the investments that keep Seattle affordable and livable for everyone who calls it home."

Next Steps

Mayor Wilson's total proposed budget for 2027 is $9.1 billion across all funds. The General Fund — the City's most flexible revenue source — totals $2 billion, or 22% of the total budget, with more than half of General Fund spending going to public safety services.

The Seattle City Council will review the proposed budget over the next two months, hold public hearings, and consider amendments before a final council vote, typically in late November. The budget must be adopted by early December under state law.