Please Vote!
...247 days to go...
Tomorrow is election day.
Just in case you’re still on the fence or not planning to vote, here’s my own take on why your vote is so important. Or, if you’ve already voted, here’s why you should feel good about it!
The Seattle city budget is $8.3 billion, and roughly 250,000 people will vote in this election. That means your vote, on average, controls about $33,000 a year. Seattle’s mayor and city council both serve four-year terms, so your vote controls over $130,000 over that period.
Of course, I care much more about certain parts of the budget than others, and your priorities may differ. But as the author of a newsletter on homelessness in Seattle, one area I care a lot about is how Seattle spends revenue from the JumpStart tax. JumpStart is a tax on large businesses in Seattle that will generate about $541 million in 2025.
Five years ago, the City Council passed the JumpStart spending plan, which mandated that 62% of JumpStart revenues be spent on affordable housing (that’s about $335 million in 2025). Since then, there’s been a vigorous debate about whether the city should divert the money to other causes. The current budget allocates only $133 million to affordable housing, about $200 million less than the 62% spending plan would have devoted.
$200 million a year over four years is $800 million, which is over $3,000 for every vote cast in the election. That means each vote is, in part, like a decision about whether the city should write a $3,000 check to develop affordable housing or not.
I think that’s a pretty good use of an hour.
Three closing thoughts:
Can’t easily get to the polls tomorrow in Seattle? Message me! I’m happy to swing by and give anyone a ride!
Happen to want my advice on who to vote for? See here
Think it’ll never come down to your vote? Think again. It happened in Virginia in 2017…
Love