During the pandemic, Kenmore received one-time federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding intended to help communities respond to extraordinary circumstances and invest in recovery. ARPA dollars were never meant to permanently expand the City's ongoing operating budget.
Instead of using this temporary funding to strengthen long-term financial stability, the City incorporated it into ongoing spending commitments through the Special Projects Fund, which is also part of the “Expanded” service level budget category, not “Core or Basic."
As the federal funding has now been all spent, the City is left with structural budget pressures that cannot be sustained by existing revenues.
For a person on a fixed or limited income, $550 a year makes a real difference.
For the average Kenmore household, through property tax or rent increase, a person earning $20 an hour would need to work an additional 27+ hours per year to pay the City of Kenmore for Prop 1. That's over three days of labor in addition to the already 35 hours it takes for current city taxes you pay (and that doesn't include federal taxes, healthcare, etc. being withheld).
Over a week and a half of your labor and income go to the City of Kenmore.
$40-$50 a month could be a prescription, a medical copay, part of a utility bill, groceries for a family, gasoline for the commute, a child's activity, a gym membership, a streaming service, or put into savings.
For a household already managing a tight budget, another mandatory monthly expense means less money available for all of those things.
Unlike entertainment or other discretionary purchases, a tax is not something a household can simply choose to cancel when money gets tight.
This increase will affect everyone.
This tax will be passed on in the form of higher rents and higher prices for every good and service in the city.
This is a regressive tax that will hit working families and limited-income neighbors the hardest.
How will this impact Affordable Housing?
Addressing “housing affordability” is one of the specified goals of the Levy. Yet, this Levy will increase the cost of all new construction, including the “missing middle” and alternative housing the Council says it wants.
It will significantly raise the costs to every current and prospective business in the city, making Kenmore less attractive than surrounding areas and harder for our existing businesses to survive.
Will this money actually increase spending on “Climate & Environmental Stewardship, Affordable Housing, and Human Services” in Kenmore?
Probably not. Prop 1 does not require the City to fund any new or specific programs and allows the Council to “prioritize, modify, alter, make substitutions to” any component “as it determines is in the best interests of the City.”
Most of the spending mentioned in City materials are for existing programs run by outside agencies like King County’s ARCH and Regional Homelessness Authority programs, and not for projects actually in the city of Kenmore.
Yes! Kenmore property is currently taxed at $.70 per $1,000 of assessed value. The Ordinance allows a $1.25 tax per thousand.
The City says it only needs an additional $.36 in 2027. The Ordinance allows Kenmore property taxes to increase 6% per year, as opposed to the State mandated 1%, which means taxes in 2032, the last year of the Levy, will be between 104% and 140% higher than this year.
The cumulative additional tax on the average home will be between $7,432 and $8,715.
No. Washington’s 1% limit applies only to existing properties. Cities can still receive additional revenue from new construction, new development, and other taxes and fees that are not subject to the 1% cap.
In Kenmore’s case, these sources have been significant and have grown far faster than inflation. For example, the city tax on our utility, cell, and cable bills has more than doubled since 2021.
The 1% limit has not prevented Kenmore from increasing revenue (Since 2019, city revenue has increased 70% with a 1.6% population increase).
The question for voters is whether an additional, permanent tax increase is necessary when revenues have already been rising well above inflation and population growth.
How much will city property taxes go up?
The average Kenmore home currently pays $697 of property tax to the City.
The ordinance authorizes an immediate increase in that tax to $1,249 (79.26%). That tax would increase 6% every year, more than doubling the current tax on an average home to $1,672 in 2032.
The City says it is only planning on actually raising the average tax to $1,066 (52.8%) in 2027, with a total tax of $1,426 in 2032, again, more than double the current amount.
Are other levies coming in the near future?
Yes, the City is actively pursuing a major levy to purchase and develop Lakepoint.
In 2024, the Council borrowed $12,800,000 through Councilmanic Bonds (voter approval not required). These bonds need to be repaid.