Mayor Bruce Harrell is proposing a 0.1% sales tax increase to fund public safety priorities in Seattle, taking advantage of a new authority granted to local cities by the state earlier this year.
The announcement, part of a slow rollout of his proposed 2026 budget, would help fund increases in alternative police response, add 911 dispatchers, backfill funding for the arrest-diversion program LEAD, add treatment and postoverdose recovery beds and increase funding for new firefighter recruits.
This, Harrell said in a news conference Thursday, “is what reimagining public safety for the 21st century can and should be.”
If adopted by the City Council, the sales tax would raise just under $40 million. The state granted local cities the authority to raise their sales taxes by 0.1% last legislative session, so long as the money is spent on public safety priorities, which can include both law enforcement and drug treatment options.
If Harrell’s plan is adopted, the city’s CARE department would be doubled, from 24 nonpolice responders to 48.
CARE has become something of a darling within City Hall and on the campaign trail as a happy marriage between the city maintaining a traditional police presence while also growing an alternative for situations — such as welfare checks or drug overdoses — that may not require an armed officer. Despite fears that nonofficers might be endangered, chief of CARE Amy Barden said they’ve responded to thousands of calls already without incident.
Unlike other nonpolice responses in the city, CARE is intended to be a first responder. However, its ability to live up to that has been clipped by restrictions on who’s allowed to be dispatched by 911. The city is in negotiations with the Seattle Police Officers Guild to free CARE responders to answer calls on their own, but for now they must do so alongside sworn police.
The tax would also dedicate $7.4 million to add treatment and postoverdose beds, $5 million to the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program and $2.1 million for new fire recruits.
As other cities and counties announced their intention to take advantage of the new sales tax, Harrell held out. In a budget that’s likely to be very tight, however, it was largely assumed he would.
In August, council President Sara Nelson preempted Harrell by announcing she wanted to dedicate 25% of the tax toward drug treatment. She added she’d like to spend 100% on treatment, but anticipated Harrell wouldn’t go along.
Seattle has not historically had a major role in providing drug treatment, something Nelson has wanted to change. Already, she’s successfully pushed for pilots to expand treatment in permanent supportive housing and to launch a pilot program to pay for private rehab for those who can’t afford it.
Asked if Harrell’s proposal satisfied her demands, she said she didn’t want to split hairs at that moment. The council will have months to revise Harrell’s proposed budget, which he will announce Tuesday.
The state of Seattle’s budget is both precarious and uncertain. For all of 2025, city officials have known they would have to close a deficit. How large has depended on the most recent economic forecast. At one point, it was as high as $250 million. That’s come down with a more recent favorable forecast, but could easily climb again, city analysts warned.
Harrell and Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck offered a rewrite of the city’s business tax that would shift the burden toward larger establishments while bringing in an extra $80 million. Voters will decide whether to approve that measure this fall, which will have a major influence on the final budget.
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