2024 Annual City Council Report

As we move into a new year, it’s important for the Seattle City Council to share and reflect on its legislative accomplishments in 2024 and the progress we’ve made to help improve the quality of life for all Seattleites.

2024 started with a historic chapter of new leadership with the swearing in of seven new councilmembers, who brought a fresh style of collaboration and leadership to City Hall. This began with the election of Councilmember Sara Nelson to Council President. The Council then immediately went to work with a renewed focus on its top priorities including critical legislation on public safety, transportation, responsible budgeting and more.

2024 Highlights

In the important realm of Public Safety, the Council approved more than a dozen pieces of legislation including:

• Approving a new contract for the Seattle Police Department (SPD), accelerating police hiring, and approving new signing bonuses for officers to help recruit and retain the best, most-qualified candidates in the country.
• Clearing the path for new crime prevention technologies to respond to gun violence, human trafficking, and more, as well as Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) with Real-Time Crime Center software.
• Stay Out of Drug Area (SODA) & Stay Out of Area Prostitution (SOAP) bills to give police the tools needed to disrupt criminal patterns and negative behavior in key areas of the city.
• Creating a new pilot program, with the South Correctional Entity (SCORE), for additional jail services to improve safety within King County jail in Seattle.
• New tools to help address reckless street racing bringing Seattle’s laws in line with state law.
• Expanded license plate reading technology for police vehicles with the goal of locating stolen vehicles, missing people and disrupting in-progress crimes.
• Allowing the Seattle Fire Department (SFD) authority to demolish unsafe, vacant buildings that pose a risk to public safety.

One of the first orders of business in 2024 was for the new council to fill the Position 8 council vacancy:

• Following the departure of Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, newly elected Council President Nelson, alongside the rest of the Council, worked efficiently to nominate and confirm her replacement Tanya Woo.

After months of work, the Council adopted the 2025-26 budget in a process successfully led by Chair Dan Strauss. Highlights include:

• Conducting a first-of-its-kind five-year review of the city‘s budget releasing a detailed 224-page report providing insights on how city resources are allocated, how the budget has grown and what factors contributed to that growth.
• Historic investments in public safety, housing and accountability measures including:
  • A fivefold increase in funding to the Office of Housing compared to 2019, more than $5 million in renter assistance, and millions more for unhoused outreach, shelter beds, and continued investment in homelessness programs.
  • Increased public safety by restoring prosecutor positions in the City Attorney’s Office, adding dedicated 911 dispatchers, speeding up fire department hiring, and more funding for neighborhood safety ambassadors.
  • Continued funding for the Seattle Channel to maintain its critical mission to support the arts, civic participation, and transparency through 2026 and beyond.
  • Dozens of Statements of Legislative Intent improving reporting and metrics on city programs, giving Council and the public better insight in how specific programs are delivering.
• Negotiated a new contract with cost-of-living adjustments for more than 7,000 city workers represented by 16 unions following over a year of good faith discussions.

To keep Seattle moving, the Council was unified in its work on Transportation:

• Unanimously supported the $1.55 billion Transportation Levy, which was approved overwhelmingly by Seattle voters. The package includes:
  • $403 million in street maintenance and modernization
  • $193 million in pedestrian safety
  • $160.5 million in Vision Zero and school and neighborhood safety
  • $151 million to improve transit corridors and connections
  • $133.5 for bike safety
• Unanimously approved the Seattle Transportation Plan, a 20-year vision for the future of Seattle’s streets, sidewalks, and public spaces including:  
  • Preserving, modernizing and maintaining the city’s aging bridges, roads, sidewalks and other critical infrastructure.
  • Increasing access to sidewalks and directing the construction of new sidewalks, bike lanes and other public transit opportunities.

How the Council addressed the ongoing needs of Housing and Homelessness in 2024:

• Adopted the Housing Levy Spending plan which leverages funds from the $970 million-dollar 7-year Housing Levy. The Levy spending play will help build 3,000+ much-needed affordable homes, increase opportunities for first-time homeowners, and expand rental assistance to proactively prevent homelessness.
• Approved a new agreement with King County to streamline governance of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, to provide better agency oversight and accountability.

To make sure Seattle’s Economic Development continues to thrive:

• Created a new music venue parking permit to give musicians and venues easier access to parking, making it easier for artists to bring joy, connection, and memories to Seattle residents.
• Once again funded the Storefront Repair Fund which provides continued support for vandalized businesses and brings additional funding.
• Passed a bill to streamline downtown development for the next three years to help spur mixed-use development in the city’s downtown core.