Mayor still undecided on RV package as her office raises cost. The Council's margin is exactly six

Four days after the City Council passed its RV permit package, Mayor Katie Wilson still has not said whether she will sign it, and her office is now pointing to cost.

A spokesperson told KUOW that cost estimates for parts of the program vary widely, and that the Council "will need to appropriate additional resources" during the budget to stay in balance. The mayor's office has not taken a position on any individual bill, KUOW reported. The station also noted that the city still has to lease RV lots and line up apartments before the program can deliver what it promises.

This is a follow-up to our Oct. 23 story, Seattle's RV permit package passed. Here's how each councilmember voted, bill by bill. Here is what has changed and what our records show about where the package stands.

What changed since Oct. 20

• Then: The day after the vote, Wilson said she had "some very serious concerns," KUOW reported, including legal risk, cost and how hard the program would be to run.
• Now: Her office has added a specific budget point: more money would be needed than the Council set aside, according to KUOW's Oct. 22 report. She still has not announced a decision.

What our records add

The bills have not formally reached the mayor yet. As of Oct. 24, the City Clerk's legislative history for the five ordinances in the package shows no "submitted for Mayor's signature" step. The records list the Oct. 20 Council vote as the latest action on CB 121283 (the permit program and two-hour limit), CB 121282 (the $5 million funding shift), CB 121281, CB 121280 and CB 121279. The sixth piece, Resolution 32216, was attested by the City Clerk on Oct. 23; it is a resolution, not an ordinance.

For comparison, other bills this year moved quickly. The algorithmic pricing ordinance (CB 121267) passed Sept. 22, was submitted to the mayor Sept. 24 and was signed Oct. 5. The transit ballot measure (CB 121226) passed July 21, was submitted July 22 and was signed July 30.

The two central bills have exactly six votes. The permit program and the funding bill each passed 6-3 at the Oct. 20 meeting. A veto override needs six votes on the nine-member Council, as The Stranger has reported in past veto fights, and The Stranger noted after this vote that the Council has enough votes to override a veto. But the six were not the same on both bills:

• CB 121283 (permit program): yes from Rob Saka, Joy Hollingsworth, Maritza Rivera, Debora Juarez, Dan Strauss and Robert Kettle; no from Eddie Lin, Alexis Mercedes Rinck and Dionne Foster.
• CB 121282 (funding): yes from Saka, Lin, Hollingsworth, Juarez, Strauss and Kettle; no from Rivera, Rinck and Foster.

So on each bill a single changed vote would drop support below six.

The District 5 seat is part of both majorities. Juarez voted yes on all six pieces. She holds the District 5 seat until voters choose a successor on Nov. 3, so if any override vote came after the new member takes office, that person would cast the seat's vote. We profiled the race in District 5 votes Nov. 3.

The money question lands in the budget. CB 121282 moves $5 million already in the budget to outreach, safe lots, storage and housing pathways. The mayor's office says more will be needed. Councilmembers present budget changes starting Oct. 27, and the final budget vote is scheduled for Nov. 20, per the Select Budget Committee schedule. Any added RV program money would have to fit inside a revenue forecast that grew by only about $8.8 million, as we reported in Seattle's October revenue forecast.

What's next

Once the bills are formally sent to her, the mayor can sign them or return them to the Council with a veto. Under the Council's timeline, most of the package would take effect 30 days after it becomes law, while the RV parking rules would start April 30, 2027, with enforcement after a warning period beginning July 31, 2027, according to the Council's announcement.