Seattle Forward

Bravo! Seattle Police

Seattle police officers have arrested a suspect in the horrific South Park homicide last Sunday morning.  Read news account here and here.  Well done, SPD! 

Repealing "Hours Tax" and Replacing the Funds

The ordinance repealing the Employee Hours Tax (EHT) has been submitted to the City Clerk and will be on the Council's referral calendar this next Monday.  The ordinance will be referred to the Council's Finance and Budget Committee, with final action scheduled for this fall's budget decision process. 

One of my reasons for recommending repeal of the EHT is its indirect impact on shifting commuters out

Sidewalk and Road Repair Perspective

Yesterday, The Seattle Times published a front page story about road and sidewalk do-over work in Seattle.  Photos, like the one to the left from Times photographer Greg Gilbert, showed sloppy work.

Some perspective is needed here.

Last week, I received a packet of materials from SDOT documenting specific details about the seven do-over projects since 2007 (one of the seven will be completed this year).  The cost of these seven re-do projects?  $194,925 in documented re-do costs.  This figure increases to $371,925 if one project's total costs ($177,000) are attributed to the re-do, but specific tracking for this Ravenna Avenue project did not include a breakout of the re-do costs.

So, depending on how you calculate the re-do costs for 2007 and 2008 combined, the City spent between $194,000 and $372,000. 

For an understanding on whether these do-overs indicate a problem, the costs needs to be compared with the annual budget for street/sidewalk repairs.  That budget was $21.4 million in 2007 and $24.5 million in 2008.  (For 2009, the street/sidewalk repair budget is set at $26.5 million.)  For 2007 and 2008 combined, the City spent between one-half of one percent and one percent of its street/sidewalk repair budget on do-over work. 

The national average for do-over or rework for all types of construction projects averages five percent, according to a study published in the Journal of Construction Engineering and Management in March 2009.

Perhaps Sunday's newspaper headline should have read "Seattle Street Repairs Beat National Average for Do-Over Work" instead of "Bungled Projects Symptom of Seattle Street Department Woes." 

Backyard Cottages

I visited several backyard cottages in southeast Seattle with colleagues Sally Clark and Jean Godden yesterday afternoon.  The above photograph was taken in the Mt Baker neighborhood; the garage up the driveway with red doors has been converted to a living unit.  The City Council will soon begin consideration of legislation allowing backyard cottages citywide.

The Council's Planning, Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee will discuss this issue in August.

Here are important resources as we begin to study this issue and prepare for a September decision.

For a general overview of the Mayor's proposal, plus the specific legislation, click to the backyard cottage section of the Department of Planning and Development website.  For more in-depth detail and perspective, click to the Seattle Planning Commission website and scroll down to the section dealing with backyard cottages. 

Federal Stimulus Money Going Rural

There is a very informative article in today's New York Times that documents where much of the federal stimulus money for transportation is being spent; not in the country's major metropolitan areas.  Be sure to click on this link to see a quick snapshot of how the nation's largest cities are doing, including an interesting factoid about Washington State. 

Even More Facts On Employee Hours (Head) Tax

The Council's Transportation Committee held a very informative discussion this morning on possible repeal of the Employee Hours Tax.  Watch the committee meeting on the Seattle Channel.  Or, read this SeattlePI.com or this Seattle Times account of the meeting. 

Also today, the city's finance director issued this summary of the likely impact of repeal of the tax:  Download EHT Repeal Effects 7-7--09.  His conclusion:  minimal impact, all projects will be funded.

Councilmember Conlin and I, along with several other sponsors, will introduce the repeal legislation in the next couple of weeks.  The legislation will be assigned to the Council's Finance and Budget Committee for deliberation, with a final vote likely when the Council acts on the overall 2010 budget in the fall.

See my earlier posts on this topic here. 

More FACTS About Employee Hours Tax

I'm keenly aware of the push-back from pedestrian safety, bicycle and alternative-transportation advocates who strongly disagree with our initiative to repeal Seattle's so-called head tax on employees.  Read my earlier posts here.

These advocates argue that the Employee Hours Tax (EHT) encourages use of alternative transportation modes and funds important bicycle and neighborhood transportation projects. 

But, the facts support repealing this tax that creates a negative impression of the job-creation and business climate in Seattle.  Seattle is the only city in the region to impost both a employee hours tax and a business and occupation tax, and our B & O tax is the highest.  Check out this table: Download EHT-BO Tax Comparison 7-4-09.  Our job-creation climate is very important to me and my colleagues.  The signals we send, even if the direct out-of-pocket cost is small, are important.  Impressions matter. 

A better, and more direct, way to encourage alternative transportation (e.g., transit, carpooling, walking, cycling, etc.) is to raise on-street parking rates and commercial parking taxes; commuters would directly feel these cost increases, instead of their employers through the EHT, and may entertain alternatives.

At the end of the day, the Council identifies transportation project priorities and determines how funds will be allocated among those projects.  There is no sentiment to cut back on pedestrian, bicycle or sidewalk projects.  None.  Adjustments to long-term financing, the reduction in construction costs, and higher than expected parking tax revenues will allow us to move forward with higher than anticipated funds for these important projects.