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Seattle’s 2025–26 Budget: JumpStart Funding and a Failed Capital Gains Tax Proposal

Seattle’s 2025–26 budget used JumpStart revenue to support the General Fund, while a proposed local capital gains tax failed. Council records do not specify which JumpStart spending restriction was changed.
From TheFinanceBase Team3 min to read
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Seattle City Council approved its 2025–26 budget on November 21, 2024, and Mayor Bruce Harrell signed the $8.5 billion package on November 26. The Council said the budget used JumpStart payroll expense tax revenue to help cover a reported $268 million operating deficit. A separate proposal for a Seattle capital gains excise tax failed. The available Council records confirm proposed JumpStart tax changes and additional General Fund support, but do not establish exactly which spending restriction, if any, was removed or rejected.

What Seattle approved in its 2025–26 budget

The Council adopted the biennial budget by an 8–1 vote on November 21, 2024; its adoption page reports that the mayor signed it five days later. The Council described the package as $8.5 billion. Seattle City Council’s adoption announcement

The Council said the budget used revenue in the JumpStart Fund to offset a $268 million operating deficit and minimize employee layoffs. It also described a $344 million housing investment in 2025 as the largest in Seattle’s history; that characterization is the Council’s. Council budget announcement

What the JumpStart records do—and do not—show

JumpStart is Seattle’s payroll expense tax. During the budget process, Council members considered proposed changes to the tax, and the Council’s amendment tracker lists a Budget Committee action to increase Finance General by $17.6 million in JumpStart Fund resources for 2025 and $42 million for 2026. The tracker says the purpose was to increase JumpStart Payroll Expense Tax support for the General Fund. These are figures for that listed action, not a stated total of all transfers or support. Seattle City Council amendment tracker

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The Council announcement confirms that proposed JumpStart Payroll Expense Tax changes were under consideration, but the cited result pages do not identify a specific spending restriction that was removed or rejected, its final bill language, or a related roll-call vote. The tracker’s General Fund support entry alone does not settle that question. So, while the budget’s use of JumpStart revenue and the listed support action are documented, the claim that Council members “nixed” a particular restriction cannot be verified from these records.

For broader context, a 2023 Council announcement said the Revenue Stabilization Workgroup had identified changes to JumpStart and a city capital gains tax among nine revenue sources for further consideration. The Council described those as options, not recommendations. Seattle City Council announcement on the Revenue Stabilization Workgroup

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The Seattle capital gains tax proposal failed

Councilmember Cathy Moore said she proposed a local 2% capital gains excise tax on stock and bond profits over $262,000. Those figures describe her proposal, not an enacted tax. Moore also described a companion measure that would have directed proceeds to rental assistance, food assistance, and down-payment assistance for low- and middle-income homeownership. She said both measures failed in the 2024 budget process. Councilmember Cathy Moore’s announcement

Moore said at the time that she planned to bring the legislation back for further work and consideration in early 2025. That statement records her then-intended next step; it does not establish whether a later proposal was introduced or adopted. The proposal was a Seattle city tax, distinct from Washington State’s capital gains excise tax.

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How Seattle’s budget process works

Seattle uses a biennial budget cycle. Under the Council’s budget explainer, the Council approves funding for the first year and endorses amounts for the second. Council Budget Actions can change revenue, spending, positions, and provisos. Statements of Legislative Intent instead express policy intent or request reports and study. The full Council votes on the budget before it goes to the mayor for signature or veto. Seattle City Council budget explainer

At adoption, Select Budget Committee Chair and District 6 Councilmember Dan Strauss said: “In one of the toughest budget years in recent memory, we have come together, made smart decisions, and protected the services our city depends on while making strides toward greater financial sustainability.” Council adoption announcement

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