Seattle did not enact the proposed local capital-gains tax. Councilmember Cathy Moore introduced the idea during the city’s 2024 budget process: a 2% tax on non-retirement financial gains over $250,000, with revenue intended for rental assistance, down-payment assistance, and food assistance. Both bills failed in November 2024, so none of the later budget funding for those programs came from this tax.
What Seattle proposed
On November 8, 2024, Councilmember Cathy Moore announced a proposal for a city excise tax on certain non-retirement financial gains. The announced design was a 2% tax on gains over $250,000 and was described as otherwise modeled on Washington’s capital-gains tax legislation. The city bill addressed sales or exchanges of certain capital assets; it did not become law. Seattle City Council announcement · Council Bill 120908
The proposal was not the same as Washington’s state capital-gains tax. It was a separate city proposal with its own rate and threshold, and it failed before taking effect. The general description does not establish whether a particular person’s transaction would have been taxable; that would have depended on the bill’s detailed rules.
What the tax was intended to fund
A companion bill, Council Bill 120909, described intended uses for any proceeds. It named three areas:
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- Rental assistance for households burdened by rent.
- Down-payment assistance for low-, moderate-, and workforce-income households.
- Food assistance for households experiencing food insecurity.
The bill contemplated that detailed allocations would be decided later, annually or by resolution. Those were proposed uses, not funded commitments: the tax and its companion spending plan did not pass. Council Bill 120909
Why supporters said the money was needed
The bills’ rationale pointed to housing costs, demand for rental assistance, unequal access to homeownership, and food insecurity. The figures below are those cited in the bill, attributed there to the named organizations or sources; they should not be read as independently verified current estimates.
| Need cited in the bill | Figure and attribution |
|---|---|
| Rent burden | 90,700 households, or 44% of Seattle renter households, were rent-burdened in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey as cited in the bill. |
| Rental-assistance waitlist | Approximately 5,800 Seattle residents were on a waitlist as of August 2024, according to United Way as cited in the bill. |
| Estimated cost to clear the rental-assistance backlog | $10 million, an estimate attributed to United Way of King County in the bill. |
| Homeownership disparity | 46.4% of Black Americans compared with 75.8% of white Americans were reported as homeowners; the bill attributed the figures to the Brookings Institution but did not state the measurement year. |
| King County homeownership | The bill cited a 61.5% overall rate and a 28% rate for Black residents, attributing the figures to the U.S. Census Bureau without stating the measurement year. |
| Food insecurity | The bill reported that 32% of Black adults and 26% of Latino adults experienced food insecurity, attributing the figures to United Way of King County without stating the measurement year. |
These statistics explain the needs the proposal’s sponsors emphasized; they do not show that the proposed tax would have resolved those needs.
What opponents and supporters debated
The disagreement was about both the scale of unmet need and the best way to pay for assistance. Moore argued that residents’ incomes were not keeping pace with rent, food, and utilities. Councilmember Rob Saka called the proposal “the right idea at the wrong time,” saying the city should better assess why existing programs were not achieving their hoped-for results. GeekWire’s November 13, 2024 report
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Business and technology voices questioned whether the projected receipts would reliably support ongoing programs and raised concerns about economic competitiveness and retaining talent. Others challenged the idea that tax policy necessarily deters innovation or drives wealthy residents away. These were arguments in the debate, not established effects of this proposal.
GeekWire reported an annual revenue estimate range of $16 million to $51 million, based on city data. WTIA COO Kelly Fukai said the range “does not help the city reliably fund programs” and that “a further expansion of the capital gains tax warrants more discussion.” The range was a projection, not revenue collected; the proposal failed.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Did Seattle pass the tax, and was it in the 2025–2026 budget?
No. Official legislative records show that Council Bills 120908 and 120909 did not pass. The Select Budget Committee recommended that the spending-plan bill not pass on November 19, 2024, and the full Council rejected it on November 21. Council Bill 120908 · Council Bill 120909
The Council approved Seattle’s 2025–2026 budget on November 21, 2024, and that budget included additional rental assistance and increased funding for food banks and meal programs. Those were separate budget actions, not spending from the failed capital-gains proposal. Seattle City Council: 2025–2026 budget approval
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