The mayor's plan takes $65 million out of this year's JumpStart housing budget. Foster wants guardrails

Seattle's affordable housing money is getting less attention in this budget than police or homelessness. Papers posted for Tuesday's Select Budget Committee show a major change in how it is handled.

The mayor's 2026 year-end supplemental budget bill would reduce the Office of Housing's 2026 appropriation from the JumpStart payroll tax by $65 million, according to Central Staff in the Office of Housing proposal packet. JumpStart is Seattle's tax on large employers' payrolls, and a share goes to building and preserving affordable homes.

Central Staff explains what the cut means. Some payments on housing awards made in 2026 or earlier may have to be covered from future years' budgets, and so may awards made in 2027. In the past, the city carried forward all unspent JumpStart money for apartment and homeownership projects. Now the mayor's office says it will first analyze the office's upcoming needs and then decide how much to carry forward.

Mayor Katie Wilson chose not to raise the JumpStart tax to close the budget gap, KUOW reported this month. She pointed to economic uncertainty, shifts in tech and downtown office vacancies, and said "this was not the moment to be dialing up JumpStart."

For residents, the question is whether affordable housing projects the city has already promised money to will be paid on schedule.

What our records add: Foster's three responses

Councilmember Dionne Foster (Position 9) filed three items on housing for Tuesday, per the summary list and the housing packet.

1. Automatic carryforward (two amendments, with Alexis Mercedes Rinck and Eddie Lin). One amendment to the 2026 year-end bill would require unspent 2026 JumpStart housing money to roll into later years until it is spent or the Council abandons it by ordinance. It lists the existing 2026 amounts:

• about $234.4 million for multifamily housing
• $24.5 million for homeownership
• $4.5 million for administration

Central Staff notes the amendment would not undo the $65 million reduction. A second amendment would apply the same rule to 2027.

2. Reporting and a backstop (OH-001S, with Lin and Joy Hollingsworth). This statement of intent asks the Office of Housing for:

• quarterly reports showing there is enough JumpStart money to cover what it owes
• notice before the 2027 funding round on how much JumpStart is in it
• a plan for affordable housing providers that need operating help or debt restructuring

It also says the Council intends the city to use the JumpStart Revenue Stabilization Account first if more money is needed for awards already made.

3. New money (OH-003, with Rinck and Lin). $10 million in one-time General Fund money for 2027, with $7 million for rental projects and $3 million for homeownership. It is the largest single item on Tuesday's list. The Council's preference is that all of it go out through 2027 funding rounds.

How JumpStart is doing. The October forecast added about $1.4 million in JumpStart revenue for 2027 and $3.1 million for 2028, according to the committee's forecast entry, FG-901. Foster has also proposed requiring multi-year balanced plans for JumpStart and the General Fund, which we covered in Foster wants Seattle's budgets balanced years ahead.

Why the $10 million is hard. Councilmember proposals naming General Fund money total about $19.8 million for 2027 on Tuesday's list alone, against a forecast that added about $1.2 million to that fund. See our overview of all 36 proposals.

What's next

• Tuesday, Oct. 27: Housing proposals at the Select Budget Committee (OH agenda item).
• Nov. 4: the chair's balancing package shows which housing items are funded.
• Nov. 5: public hearing, per the Central Staff schedule.
• The year-end supplemental and the 2027 budget ordinance are both voted on with the final budget, scheduled for Nov. 20.