City of Bellevue issued the following announcement.
Plus, adoption of Environmental Stewardship Plan, comprehensive plan amendments and affordable housing sales tax work plan
On Monday, the City Council approved the city’s $1.7 billion 2021-2022 operating budget and 2021-2027 Capital Investment Program (CIP). The balanced budget proposal maintained critical services with public safety and human services while prioritizing and continuing investment in key future growth areas of the city’s vision, such as environmental stewardship, transportation options and cultural outreach.
The budget package put before councilmembers for approval included 11 budget items including an umbrella ordinance to adopt the full budget appropriation. Councilmembers unanimously approved the umbrella ordinance to approve the budget and all other ordinances adopting the individual pieces of the budget were also approved.
The full discussion is available through a Bellevue Television replay and further details on the meeting actions can be found in an announcement from the city.
Environmental Stewardship Plan adopted
Earlier in the meeting, councilmembers voted 7-0 to approve Bellevue’s latest Environmental Stewardship Plan and begin implementing the actions in the plan. The update to the five-year plan was developed through several rounds of public and council input over the past year.
The Environmental Stewardship Plan includes both short- and long-term goals and targets for 2030 and 2050, along with a suite of 77 actions to implement over the next five years to enhance sustainability for city operations and for the entire community. Councilmembers will receive quarterly updates on the plan’s progress, including work toward “early wins” and enhanced stakeholder outreach; two items further supported through amendments to the current budget. The full plan is posted to the city’s dedicated web page.
Comprehensive Plan Amendments approved
In other business, councilmembers adopted several amendments to the city’s Comprehensive Plan after receiving recommendations from the Planning Commission in November. The amendments included a city-initiated amendment related to the C-1 Affordable Housing Strategy and four privately initiated map amendments.
Full details on the individual amendments is available in the meeting agenda in the “Other Ordinances” section.
House Bill 1590 work plan approved
The council was asked to approve initiation of a workplan as the city implements an ordinance imposing a tenth of a percent sales tax for affordable housing and mental/behavioral health in Bellevue. The state legislature adopted House Bill 1590 to allow for a sales and use tax to be imposed at the county or city level for housing and related services, and the Bellevue City Council adopted the city ordinance in October.
The tax would provide funding for the creation of affordable housing units and facilities providing housing-related services, as well as support for mental and behavioral health and other housing-related services, recognizing that this combination of services is needed to achieve housing stability for many. The affordable housing funds would be focused on serving people earning 60% of the area’s annual median income or less and from certain historically underserved populations including people with disabilities, families experiencing homelessness, senior citizens and veterans.
The council unanimously approved moving forward with the work plan. Based on Bellevue’s taxable sales in 2019, the 0.1 percent sales tax would likely generate $8.9 million in a typical year. This estimated amount will be less through the COVID-19 recovery period. More information is available in the meeting materials.
Note: Due to the holidays the council will be in recess. Weekly council meetings will resume on Monday, Jan. 4, 2021.
Original source can be found here.
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