Seattle to spend more on homeless; garbage, water, parking rates to rise

The Seattle City Council agreed Monday on a two-year budget that keeps the mayor's multimillion-dollar initiative to reduce youth violence and adds money for food and shelter services for homeless people.

The 2009-2010 budget, which faces a final vote on Monday, also includes higher rates for water, garbage collection and street parking. While the city's financial planners expect the economy to take a toll on revenue from the sales tax and business-and-occupation tax, the council and Mayor Greg Nickels found areas to raise revenue, such as rate increases, and to cut costs, such as eliminating administrative jobs.

"We've been frugal in the past, which means we've been able to adjust to this economic environment," said council President Richard Conlin. "We'll keep services for people, and we'll be able to put more money into human services in recognition of the recession."

The proposed general fund is $910 million for 2009, a 1.6 percent decrease from this year's general fund of $925 million. The fund would go up to $940 million in 2010. The general fund is the portion of the budget that pays for operations such as police, fire and parks. The total budget will be $3.9 billion in 2009 and $4 billion in 2010.

The largest new program in the budget would be a $7.7 million youth-violence-prevention initiative first proposed by Nickels. Although most details still have to be worked out, the city wants to target at-risk middle-school students with intensive case management, street outreach and job programs.

In addition to the mayor's funding for human services, the council intends to add $2.5 million for homeless assistance, including food banks and shelters. The council also targeted human services with new funding, such as senior centers, legal assistance for immigrants dealing with domestic violence and programs that will help people leaving prison stabilize their lives.

The council also plans to spend $600,000 in addition to the mayor's proposal of $500,000 to expand library collections.

To raise money for these programs, hourly street-parking rates would increase beginning next year. Downtown parking would cost $2.50 an hour next year compared to $1.50 now. In many neighborhoods, the rate would rise from $1.50 to $2 per hour.

Garbage-collection rates also are expected to go up. The typical single-family home now pays $23 per month. In 2009, the cost would go up 27 percent to $29.18 per month. Rates would increase in 2010, again to $32.70 per month, a two-year increase of 42 percent. The increases reflect contracts the council approved earlier this year, which include requiring all single-family homes to sign up for food-waste recycling in April and converting to collection trucks that run on natural gas.

The council also expects to approve higher water rates. The monthly bill for a typical residential customer would be $27.74 a month, an increase of 13 percent from the current cost of $24.61 per month. The rate would go up to $29.87 per month in 2010 and $34.01 in 2011, an increase of 38 percent over three years. The increases are less than the mayor originally sought.

The budget also would eliminate 31 city positions.

Sharon Pian Chan: 206-464-2958 or schan@seattletimes.com