Artists asked the Council to move $8 million from police hiring to the arts. Here's what members actually proposed

More than 100 organizations and hundreds of individuals signed an open letter this fall asking the Seattle City Council to redirect $8 million of the proposed police budget increase to arts and culture, KIRO 7 reported. Capitol Hill and Central District businesses and groups later joined the call, Capitol Hill Seattle reported.

The Council's arts proposals are now public, ahead of Wednesday's Select Budget Committee meeting. They show how members are answering, and where the money would come from.

The request and the budget

Mayor Katie Wilson's budget would raise Seattle Police Department funding by $68 million and pay for 66 more officers, according to KIRO 7. The letter argues that arts and cultural placemaking is public safety infrastructure, and cites $3.6 million the city put into art installations and activations during the FIFA World Cup. Without that one-time World Cup money, the city's overall arts contribution would fall by about $2.1 million from 2026, KIRO 7 reported. The mayor's office said Wilson plans increases for some grants, an art installation at King Street Station and more money for arts education, according to the same report.

Public Safety Chair Robert Kettle has argued the opposite direction on police: he wrote that capping staffing at current levels "poses a direct threat to our public safety posture," KIRO 7 reported.

What our records add: the arts proposals

Central Staff's Arts packet for the Oct. 28 meeting (agenda item) lists 12 items. By our count from each item's financial summary, they add about $6 million in General Fund spending in 2027 and about $1.96 million in 2028.

The largest:

• ARTS-002, $3 million in 2027 (one-time). For people and groups that activate spaces, produce events or create media about the arts, culture, history or heritage of disadvantaged communities. Sponsor: Joy Hollingsworth (District 3), with Alexis Mercedes Rinck and Dionne Foster.
• ARTS-005, about $1.68 million a year. Sponsor: Foster, with Robert Kettle and Rinck. It moves Folklife, Winterfest, Festal, Teen Summer Musical, Arts in Parks and the downtown buskers program off Admissions Tax money and onto the General Fund. That frees the same amount of Admissions Tax for the Office of Arts and Culture's Centering Art and Racial Equity grants. City code requires Admissions Tax revenue to go to the arts office, the packet notes.
• ARTS-009, $500,000 in 2027 for murals in the Ballard Brewery District (Dan Strauss).

The rest are smaller: Hollingsworth's $75,000 a year for a public event celebrating the African American community, $200,000 for a creative marketplace, $150,000 for free gallery events, $100,000 for a hip-hop artist association and $50,000 for an artist support agency; and three items from Rob Saka for a Delridge art wall, music programs and West Seattle art instruction. Hollingsworth also asks the arts office to report by June 1, 2027, on long-term funding options, including whether the Admissions Tax can keep up.

What's not there. None of these items cuts the police budget to pay for itself. They add to General Fund spending, which means Budget Chair Dan Strauss's balancing package must find room for any that survive. The Police Department's proposals are on Thursday's agenda (meeting, agenda item), and that packet had not been posted as of Tuesday morning.

Who sponsored what. Hollingsworth, the Council president, is prime sponsor on seven of the 12 arts items. Foster, who sponsored the Admissions Tax change, chairs the committee that oversees the arts office, the Housing, Arts, and Civil Rights Committee.

What's next

• Wednesday, Oct. 28: arts proposals are presented at the Select Budget Committee.
• Thursday, Oct. 29: Police, CARE and Human Services proposals (meeting).
• Nov. 4: Strauss's balancing package. Nov. 5: public hearing, with remote comment at 1 p.m. and in-person comment at 5 p.m.