ELECTION 2025: You’ll get a ballot soon. Here’s what the housing-related propositions are about
By Aspen Anderson
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
King County Elections starts sending out ballots tomorrow for the February 11 special election. Your ballot will include four measures related to two issues. First, we’re looking at Seattle Propositions 1A and 1B, which involve funding for the Seattle Social Housing Developer created by a vote two years ago.
The nonprofit coalition House Our Neighbors coalition spearheaded Initiative 135, approved in February 2023 with 57 percent of the vote. This measure established the Seattle Social Housing Developer, tasked with building, owning, and maintaining affordable “social housing.” However, due to Washington state’s single-subject rule, a single ballot measure could not both create the public development authority and provide funding. As a result, Initiative 135 did not include funding for the agency to carry out its mission, aside from startup costs.
Propositions 1A and 1B aim to fill that gap by proposing different ways to fund the Developer.
Social housing in Seattle refers to publicly owned, permanently affordable housing that serves residents across a broad spectrum of incomes, from extremely low to moderate. This mixed-income approach allows the developer to generate more revenue by including tenants from varied income levels, enabling rents to cover maintenance and operational costs while reducing reliance on government subsidies. As a theoretical example, House Our Neighbors, in partnership with Neiman Taber Architects, unveiled a preliminary design for social housing in Seattle. It features eco-friendly buildings offering a variety of housing options, including family-sized apartments, townhouses, and co-living models with shared kitchens and bathrooms on each level.
Tasked with getting social housing built is the Developer, governed by a 13-member board composed of renters, housing experts, and equity advocates. Most members were appointed by city leaders and by groups like the Seattle Renters’ Commission. The board oversees planning and finances, with meetings open to the public. Since its formation, the Developer has focused on building its organizational structure but has not yet constructed any housing due to a lack of consistent funding. Propositions 1A and 1B offer competing solutions to address that.
Proposition 1A
Proposition 1A, introduced through citizen initiative I-137 and signed by thousands of Seattleites, proposes a new payroll tax on employers who pay employees over $1 million annually. The tax is estimated to generate around $50 million a year for the Developer, providing a long-term funding source to build and maintain social housing.
Proposition 1B
Proposition 1B, proposed by the Seattle City Council, proposes to use funds from the existing JumpStart payroll tax to allocate $10 million annually for five years to the Developer. This approach avoids creating a new tax but provides less funding and imposes additional oversight requirements.
Key differences:
Funding Source: Proposition 1A establishes a new payroll tax on high-earning employers; Proposition 1B allocates funds from the existing Payroll Expense Tax.
Funding Amount: Proposition 1A estimates to raise approximately $50 million annually, while Proposition 1B limits funding to $10 million per year for five years, adjusted for inflation.
Income Range: Proposition 1A allows for a broader range of incomes, serving low- to moderate-income households. Proposition 1B focuses on developments catering to lower-income residents, limiting eligibility to those with more restricted financial means.
Oversight: Proposition 1A grants the Social Housing Developer greater autonomy, while Proposition 1B requires the Developer to apply for funding and adhere to conditions set by the Seattle Office of Housing.
Support for proposition 1A (full support/opposition statements are linked here)
Supporters of 1A, including State Senator Rebecca Saldaña (D-Seattle), argue that the proposal provides the necessary resources to address the city’s housing crisis.
“This dedicated revenue stream will create more than 2,000 units, including family-sized units, of social housing over the next 10 years,” Saldaña and others wrote. They emphasize that social housing prioritizes workforce and community stability, helping essential workers like teachers and firefighters stay in Seattle.
They add: “Proposition 1B takes $10 million from affordable housing and essential services to keep taxes low for our wealthiest businesses. It also dismantles the proven business model for social housing, guaranteeing that it fails before producing any of the housing we desperately need. “
Support for proposition 1B
Supporters of 1B, such as Al Levine, an instructor at the University of Washington, advocate for a cautious approach.
“We need more affordable housing and accountability,” Levine and others wrote. “Proposition 1B provides $10 million a year of existing tax revenues for five years to test if the concept works.”
“We need more affordable housing and accountability, but the social housing Public Development Authority (PDA) was only created in 2023 and uses an unproven concept for building and managing housing. Social housing has never been tried in Seattle and is done in one other place in the United States. This concept may have merit, but can it deliver $50 million worth of housing every year when it hasn’t delivered any?”
Opposition to both
Critics, including former housing nonprofit director Alice Woldt, oppose both measures, arguing they fail to prioritize the city’s most vulnerable residents.
“New tax revenues should assist truly poor residents,” Woldt and others wrote. “Social housing advocates want $520 million over 10 years for higher-income apartments, leaving only 60 units for the homeless.”
In February 2024, the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, led by President and CEO Rachel Smith, criticized Initiative 137 (I-137). Smith described the initiative as a “blank check” for an “unprepared” social housing developer, expressing concerns about the lack of a concrete plan and the potential financial burden on Seattle residents.
Social housing in practice
Vienna, Austria, is often highlighted as a global leader in social housing, offering a potential model for long-term housing affordability. In Vienna, the city owns and operates a significant portion of the housing stock, providing affordable rentals to a broad range of incomes. Rents are below market rates and tied to household income, ensuring inclusivity while reducing stigma. Revenue generated from tenant rents is reinvested into maintaining and expanding the housing stock, creating a self-sustaining system that addresses affordability and housing stability.
How the Ballot Works
The ballot will ask two questions:
Should one of the two propositions be adopted?
If yes, which proposition — 1A or 1B — should be implemented?
If a majority votes “No” on the first question, neither measure will pass. If “Yes” prevails, the proposition with more votes on the second question will be adopted.
Election Day is February 11. Ballots must be postmarked by that date or dropped off at a ballot drop box (West Seattle has four) by 8 pm.
Register to vote, if you have not already. Online and mail registrations must be received by February 3 to vote in the election. Or register to vote in person by 8 pm on Election Day.
Also on the ballot
Two Seattle Public Schools levies. We’ll look at those in our next election preview.
Throughout school-enrollment season, we’ve listed open houses and tours – for all types of schools – in the 
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