Blog

Why is Seattle considering new revenue?

As I wrote yesterday, a work group in Seattle has come up with nine options for new revenue for the city. The following chart is from the revenue work group’s report. It shows that the city increased general fund spending in recent years above the amount of available ongoing revenues (even though revenues have been […]

Seattle’s Revenue Stabilization Work Group offers nine new tax ideas, including a local capital gains tax and changes to the payroll expense tax

Last year, the City of Seattle established a Revenue Stabilization Work Group to “evaluate and pursue innovative options to stabilize revenue and look for opportunities to reduce the regressive nature of Seattle’s tax system on low-income, working, and middle-class residents.” This is in response to a structural deficit in the city’s general fund. The work […]

School finance charts: enrollment, revenues, share of state budget

In June, the Seattle Times held a webinar on school finance. It prompted me to put together some education finance charts with background data. First, T.J. Kelly of the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction noted that school enrollment has declined since the pandemic. Indeed, there was a substantial drop in school year (SY) 2020–21. […]

July report on state tax collections: revenues for the most recent month were $101.1 million greater than the amount forecasted

Yesterday the state’s Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (ERFC) issued its monthly report on general fund revenue collections. This report covers payments received between June 11 and July 10 for the sales tax, the use tax, the business and occupation tax, the public utility tax, the tobacco products tax, and penalties and interest (collectively the […]

Capital gains revenues and the June forecast

As Kriss wrote last month, the June revenue forecast for funds subject to the outlook (NGFO) is up over the outlook period (2021–23, 2023–25, and 2025–27) compared to the March forecast. Additionally, NGFO revenues are expected to grow by 2.4% in 2023–25 and by 6.8% in 2025–27. (However, adjusted for inflation, revenues are expected to […]

Washington’s state and local taxes and spending per capita ranked 14th and 13th highest among the states in 2021

The two main ways to compare taxes and spending across states are per capita and as a share of personal income. The U.S. Census Bureau released state and local finance data for fiscal year 2021 a few weeks ago. According to the data, Washington’s state and local taxes per capita increased 8.2% to $6,663 in […]

New brief: Modest Operating Budget Growth in Inflationary Times

After a few years of record spending increases, the Legislature slowed the growth in the operating budget this year. As enacted, appropriations from funds subject to the outlook (NGFO) for 2023–25 are up 8.9% compared to the 2022 supplemental. New policy spending of $4.744 billion is the most of any original biennial budget going back […]

Happy Fiscal New Year’s Eve!

Today is the last day of state fiscal year 2023 and the last day of the 2021–23 biennium. Tomorrow is the first day of the 2023–25 biennium, which comprises fiscal years 2024 and 2025. The operating budget and other legislation enacted this year appropriated $69.804 billion from funds subject to the outlook (NGFO) for 2023–25, […]

No paid family and medical leave deficits in sight, after cash influx from state general fund

The paid family and medical leave program has been in deficit several times since Spring 2022. (Our report about the program’s problems is here.) The monthly ending balance of the family and medical leave insurance (FMLI) account has been negative six times, including this April (see the chart below). At the April meeting of the […]

Washington’s average annual wage grew much slower in 2022 than in recent years

The Employment Security Department (ESD) reports that the state average annual wage was $84,167 in 2022. That is just 2.0% higher than the 2021 average wage. In 2020 and 2021, there were record high increases in the average wage (see the chart below). According to ESD, the growth in the average wage slowed because “[a] […]