Seattle Doesn’t Need Impact Fees
As if things weren’t bad enough, the Seattle City Council is considering impact fees, the charges applied to new development allowed by State law to off set the impacts of new growth. Largely limited to the suburbs, impact fees add costs to new housing and therefore increase the price of that housing. In a way, […]
MFTE Reauthorization Deliberations Begin
Today at 9:30AM the Seattle City Council’s Committee on Housing Affordability, Human Services and Economic Resiliency will begin the process to renew the City’s Multifamily Tax Exemption (MFTE) Program. The program has created over 4,000 affordable housing units all over the city, and very efficiently. Here’s a quick rundown from a previous post: Multifamily Tax Exemption […]
The Latest on HALA: Too Early to be Worried?
I’m worried about where the Seattle City Council seems to be going with the recommendations of the Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA) Committee recommendations. Maybe it’s because just before yesterday’s HALA select committee meeting they voted down, 7 to 2, a sensible amendment to back off a legally dubious requirement for a project not […]
