This week Council President Gonzalez is introducing a bill that would move the city’s economic and revenue forecasting office out from under the control of the city Finance Director and into a new, independent Office of Economic and Revenue Forecasts.
Continue readingCategory: finance
Council set to consider amendments to ARPA spending plan
Tomorrow the City Council’s Finance and Housing Committee will consider a set of amendments to the “Seattle Rescue Plan” legislation that allocates $128 million of federal American Rescue Plan Act and HOPE Act funding.
Continue readingCity budget office updates its economic and revenue forecast, and City Hall misses the message
The City Budget Office delivers an economic and revenue forecast to the Mayor and City Council three times a year: in August, at the beginning of the annual budget process; in November, for a last-minute budget update before it’s passed; and in April as a check-in to see how things are going. Today City Budget Director Ben Noble delivered the April update, which he will present in person to the City Council’s Finance and Housing Committee tomorrow. The Mayor and two Councilmembers immediately issued press releases remarking positively on the economic recovery, highlighting $40 million in additional revenues, and salivating …
Continue readingCouncil votes Mercer Megablock sale approval out of committee
This afternoon, the City Council voted out of committee an ordinance approving the proposed sale of the “Mercer Megablock” to Alexandria Real Estate Equities.
Continue readingIs the City of Seattle ready for a recession?
This morning, the City Council’s Budget Committee received a briefing on the revenue outlook for the rest of 2019 and beyond, as well as the overall financial condition of city government. The theme running under all of it: winter is coming.
Continue readingCouncil fixes its mistake, passes grant-acceptance bill minus ICE funding
Today the City Council held a 10-minute meeting and passed an amended version of the funding-acceptance bill that they dropped on the floor on Monday.
Continue readingSpecial Council meeting scheduled for tomorrow
I noted on Monday that the City Council stumbled in attempting to approve a typically routine grant-acceptance ordinance, and ended up in a parliamentary rathole — all because of a $90,000 line-item in which ICE reimburses SPD for costs related to joint narcotics enforcement activities at the Port of Seattle. The Council has scheduled a special meeting for noon tomorrow (Wednesday) to resolve this mess. The Council will take up an amended version of the bill that strikes the ICE reimbursement but leaves the rest of the line-items intact. Passing it will require five “yes” votes, but with the ICE …
Continue readingMunicipal bank feasibility study says “theoretically yes, but realistically no”
At the beginning of 2018 the City of Seattle commissioned a study to look at the feasibility of creating a municipal bank. Those study results were released yesterday. It says that in theory the city could create its own bank, but there are significant legal, logistical, regulatory and financial challenges to doing so.
Continue readingSeattle City Light six-year strategic plan one step closer to approval
This afternoon, the City Council voted to send Seattle City Light’s 2019-2024 Strategic Plan out of committee and to the full Council for final approval on July 9th, along with some direction on how to address the power utility’s biggest issues.
Continue readingThe city is stuck with Wells Fargo for a few more years
You may recall that last year the City told Wells Fargo Bank that it would not be renewing its contract for bank depository service, and began the process of issuing an RFP for a new bank. Yesterday morning the Council got an update on that process, and the news is not good — though it may expedite the process of achieving the city’s long-term goal of running its own bank.
Continue reading