Here’s what happened at Tuesday night’s (Nov. 14, 2023) SeaTac City Council meeting.

Public Comments

Two citizens expressed their concern with code enforcement issues regarding trash pickup stating that they did not feel heard or supported by the City when they complained about the discarded furniture and garbage in their neighborhood.

Additionally, they had concerns about abandoned cars, the highspeed traffic in their area, and the safety of children playing in the street due to lack of sidewalks.

Tax Levy Passes With 0% Increase

A public hearing was held to pass an ordinance authorizing the City’s 2024 Property Tax Levy.

Previously, the Council has adopted Financial Policies that establish that there will be no increase on the property tax levy so long as the General Fund Reserves are within the set reserve target of 4 months.

Currently, those 4 months of reserve are met with a value of $16.6 million, with an excess reserve of 6 months. Consequently, a zero percent (0%) tax levy increase has been applied to the development of the 2023-2024 Biennial Budget.

Union Agreement Reached, Ordinance Passed

A Collective Bargaining Agreement was reached between the City of SeaTac and AFSCME, Local #3830.
On October 26, 2023, the Union membership voted to ratify the tentative agreement that had been reached with the City earlier that month, after four months at the bargaining table.

The ordinance passed unanimously, approving the Collective Bargaining Agreement as negotiated.

You can view the complete agreement here.

Some of the highlights include:

  • Maintain contract length of 4 years.
  • Article 11 Wages – Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) is equivalent to 100% of the CPI-W, with a minimum of 2% and a maximum of 6%.
  • Longevity pay begins at year 5, with an option of additional pay or additional time off.
  • The City will match 40% of all employee contributions to the 457 deferred compensation plan, up to 2% of the employee’s gross monthly income.
  • Vacation accrual incrementally increased for employees who have been with the City 18-25 years.
  • New employees are eligible to take vacation after the first 30 days of employment.
  • Bereavement leave has been increased from 24 hours to 40 hours.
  • Increased protective boot allowance reimbursement from $225 to $300 every two years.
  • Increased denim allowance from $125 to $200 per year required for certain classifications.
  • Individual rain gear will be provided to employees as part of employer provided PPE.

The new Collective Bargaining Agreement will go into effect on January 1, 2024.

Amendments to King County Planning Policies Ratified

The King County Council took action to adopt the 2023 King County Countywide Planning Policies (CPPs) that the cities of SeaTac, Federal Way, Kent, Renton, and Tukwila requested in a joint letter recommending that the amendments to the current CPP draft incorporate language to:

  • Recognize that affordable housing is not evenly distributed throughout King County
  • Account for the impact regional facilities (e.g., transfer stations, jails, behavioral health facilities, homeless shelters, etc.) have on communities in South King County
  • Ensure that seeming impartial standards like “efficiency” are not used to perpetuate historical impacts on the BIPOC communities in South King County
  • Recognize that regional challenges should be addressed through a well-defined collaborative process.

The City Council passed the resolution ratifying the 2023 CPP amendments unanimously.