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Seattle’s City Council rejected a proposed city capital-gains tax during its 2024 budget process. A committee voted against the measure on Nov. 19, 2024, and the full Council defeated it 6-3 on Nov. 21. Council Bill 120908 did not pass, so the tax it described did not take effect.
How the proposal lost
The measure faced two separate votes. The first was in the Select Budget Committee, which was considering the 2025–26 budget and related legislation.
Nov. 19: Committee rejection
The Select Budget Committee voted 4-4 on the tax proposal, with Councilmember Tanya Woo abstaining. The official legislative record marks the committee action “do not pass.” This committee action was not the final vote of the full Council.
Nov. 21: Full Council defeat
The full City Council then voted 6-3 against Council Bill 120908. The bill’s official record lists its status as “Did Not Pass.”
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What Council Bill 120908 proposed
Proposed by Councilmember Cathy Moore, the bill would have imposed a 2% excise tax on qualifying capital gains under its definitions and allocation rules. It proposed a start date of Jan. 1, 2026, but that date was part of a bill that failed; it did not create a tax obligation.
The proposal concerned individuals’ Seattle capital gains and included provisions addressing residency, allocation, exemptions, filing and payment. It should not be described as a tax on all investment profits: the bill defined which gains would qualify, and contemporaneous coverage summarized its scope as applying above an inflation-adjusted threshold.
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Proposed uses and estimated scale
Supporters said revenue would go toward rental assistance, down-payment support for low- and moderate-income households, and food assistance.
- Revenue projection: GeekWire reported in 2024 that the proposal was estimated to raise $16 million to $51 million per year. These were projections, not collected revenue.
- Taxpayer estimate: GeekWire reported an estimate of 816 affected taxpayers based on state tax filings cited at the time. This was a contemporaneous estimate, not a current taxpayer count.
The reported material does not establish the assumptions behind the projection in enough detail to independently validate its range. The estimates therefore describe the proposal as understood in 2024, not a guaranteed fiscal outcome.
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What supporters and critics argued
Supporters presented the measure as a targeted revenue source for housing and food assistance. They also argued that it would avoid placing the burden on lower-income residents in the way they said a regressive sales tax could. During the committee debate, Moore said, “So that does leave us at the point where we do need additional revenue.”
Critics questioned whether new revenue was necessary and raised concerns about Seattle’s economic competitiveness. Those were arguments about possible effects, not established findings. The available contemporaneous reporting does not provide a verbatim explanation for the full Council’s 6-3 vote, so the committee debate should not be treated as a definitive account of why each councilmember voted as they did.
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How the votes fit the budget calendar
On Nov. 18, 2024, the Council announced that the Select Budget Committee would take final votes on budget legislation the following day and that the full Council was expected to vote on the budget and accompanying legislation on Nov. 21. The capital-gains proposal was among the measures considered alongside the city’s 2025–26 budget work, which also included proposals concerning the JumpStart payroll expense tax.
After the committee defeat, Moore told GeekWire on Nov. 19 that she planned to bring the legislation back in early 2025 for additional work and consideration. That statement records her intention at the time; it does not establish that the bill was later reintroduced.
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