By Alia Sinclair
Here are the highlights from Tuesday night’s (November 28th) SeaTac City Council Meeting:
Public Comments
The night opened with public comments from residents concerned about the traffic and racing on Military Road, requesting speed bumps in the turn lane to slow people down and possibly make it safer.
Another resident voiced concerns about the taxpayer burden for the proposed Agenda Bill 6300 for the Housing and Homelessness Partners Interlocal plan with South King County, citing that homelessness is not something those who are elected have any intention of truly solving, else they would have done so in previous decades.
Another resident opposing the same bill cited the loss of independence should the Council decide to work with South King County as opposed to making its own decisions as a City about how tax dollars are spent.
Newly Elected Councilmember Sworn In
Newly elected councilmember James W. Lovell was sworn in by City Clerk Kristina Gregg to Council Position Number 5. After being sworn in, Lovell proudly took his seat between Mayor Simpson and Councilmember Egal to begin sitting for his first council meeting.
2023-2024 Biennial Budget Amendments Pass
The 2023-2024 Biennial Budget was adopted by the City Council in November 2022. Proposed budget adjustments were presented to the Administration & Finance Committee on November 2, 2023. The committee reviewed and forwarded the proposal to the Council with recommendation to approve.
Revenue adjustments include increases to Property Tax and Leasehold Tax, recognition of budgeted ARPA funding, and adjustments to Equipment Maintenance and Repair charges.
Expenditure adjustments include updates to salaries and benefits and equipment replacement costs, increases for Merchant Fees, Property Insurance, and contract services (Court Security, Police, Fire, Animal Control, and Jail Services).
Collectively, the proposed changes increase the 2024 ending fund balance by $294,507.
The ordinance passed unanimously.
City Approves 2024 Legislative Agenda
The council unanimously approved the 2024 Legislative Agenda. This agenda gives the Government Relations & Communications Manager and City Lobbyist, Gordon Thomas Honeywell (GTH), direction on which legislative issues to actively advocate for and which issues to react to during the upcoming legislative session.
The Agenda focuses on two City-specific issues (Aviation Impacts, State Parking Mandates), and three State-specific issues (Increase Workforce Development Opportunities, Behavioral Health, Affordable Housing & Homelessness).
The complete Agenda can be viewed here.
Decision to Join Interlocal Agreement Deferred
After many questions and much discussion, the decision to pass a motion to join the Interlocal Agreement with the South King Housing and Homelessness Partners (SKHHP) was deferred for further discussion.
Joining SKHHP would require a $300,000 investment from the General Fund of the City of SeaTac and many councilmembers had questions about how the fund would be spent and how big the investments from other cities involved in the agreement were compared to the expected investment from SeaTac.
Further discussion on the Motion will take place at the December Planning and Economic Development meeting.
You can watch video of the full council meeting here.
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