City’s Proposed Budget Would Benefit Public Safety at the Expense of Low-Income People, Homeless Youth
City departments made their case for their budgets this week, but unless the City Council intervenes, only public safety departments, such as police, fire, and the new department for an alternative to police response, will see boosts to their funding, while services for vulnerable people will be cut.
The current budget includes $10 million for police overtime, funding for 21 positions to expand the Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) team, and money to allow the Unified Care Team (UCT) — a multidepartmental group that clears homeless encampments — to operate seven days a week rather than five.
While more money in the Human Services Department (HSD) budget would go to UCT, that department would see cuts to services for low-income people, such as legal services for homeless youth and tax preparation help from United Way.
The distribution of funds was puzzling to Councilmember Tammy Morales, who represents the South End.
“It feels like this budget is cutting everything that works that keeps people out of jail and keeps people off our streets,” Morales said. “I have to ask who this budget helps,” she continued.
In fact, the mayor is proposing to spend more on jail cells.
In September, King County agreed to allow the City to purchase space for 135 jail beds in the King County facility located in downtown Seattle and lifted restrictions on bookings for misdemeanor crimes. Previously, the jail had only allowed bookings for violent crimes, DUIs, and people suspected of domestic violence crimes, in part due to staffing issues. In a rare combination, the union representing correctional officers joined with public defenders in 2022 to call for a reduction in the number of people incarcerated to help stem the spread of the coronavirus.
In this budget, the contracted average daily population at the downtown jail decreased by 60 spaces, but the dollar amount increased by $1.9 million in 2025 and $2.7 million in 2026.
The City is looking outside of Seattle for additional bed space, purchasing 20 beds in the South Correctional Entity, aka SCORE, at $2.8 million in the current budget. The SCORE contract is controversial — public defenders say putting their clients there would impact their ability to serve them.
The facility also has a worse track record than the downtown Seattle jail. As of June 2024, PubliCola reportedthat seven people had died while in custody at SCORE since March 2023. Records from the King County Medical Examiner’s Office show that SCORE is listed as the location of death for at least two other people experiencing homelessness since that article was published.
The $10 million budgeted for Seattle Police Department (SPD) overtime is targeted toward emphasis patrols. The overall amount is less than was paid out in 2024 — another $12.8 million was authorized in 2024, according to Interim Budget Director Dan Eder.
Each precinct used to have a group of officers that could respond to the “hot spots” that are addressed by emphasis patrols, said Interim Police Chief Sue Rahr. “That staffing no longer exists,” she told councilmembers.
There is also nearly $47 million in new money for bargained wage and market wage increases. The most recent adjustment to the police contract raised the base pay to $103,000, the highest in the state.
SPD Budget and Finance Executive Director Angela Socci noted that the SPD budget had, in past years, looked inflated in part because it funded more positions than the department could fill. This year, there is space for 1,076 sworn officers, which is more than the department currently employs. The department is hoping to grow the force by 15 officers this year, after accounting for attrition, she said.
The low number of officers is, in part, why the department is asking for a boost in overtime funds. The department budgeted $37 million for this year but is on track to spend $54 million, Socci said.
“If I don’t have $54 [million] to allocate on the front end, I’m grossly underfunding individual units,” Socci said.
While the City is concerned about “grossly underfunding individual units” in the police force, it is moving money around in the HSD budget to increase spending on UCT and SPD while decreasing spending on programs that directly benefit low-income people and households.
Slightly more than $700,000 is moving from HSD to SPD for community crisis responders and a supervisor under the proposed budget. These positions were originally contracted through the Downtown Emergency Service Center, one of the largest homeless services providers in the city, and that funding authority was set to expire at the end of 2024.
Another $300,000 will go to UCT, and $2.6 million in new funding will establish an enhanced shelter, although no location has yet been identified.
The Council boosted wages for human services contracts in 2023, said Councilmember Cathy Moore. Those contracts got a 7% increase.According to a 2023 study by the University of Washington, human services workers employed by nonprofits made 37% less than workers in other industries.
