Seattle in best fiscal situation according to Pew report
Philadelphia research institute reports on 13 U.S. cities’ budgets

SEATTLE - A report on the budgets of 13 U.S. cities, by the Pew Charitable Trusts, singles out Seattle as being “in the best fiscal situation.” By comparison, the report lists Detroit as in the worst situation.

“While we have our challenges, I’m not surprised that Seattle was singled out in the Pew report. We have faced adversity before in 2002. We cut deep then and grew smart, including building up our ‘rainy day fund’ to more than $30 million today. Our financial house is in good order and we will weather the current storm,” said Mayor Greg Nickels.

The report titled, “Tough Decisions and Limited Options: How Philadelphia and Other Cities are Balancing Budgets in a Time of Recession,” was issued on May 18 (click here to view pdf).

It looks at the budgets in 13 cities: Atlanta; Baltimore; Boston; Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; Detroit; Kansas City, Mo.; Los Angeles; New York; Phoenix; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; and Seattle. The cities were chosen for either having something in common with Philadelphia or for providing a different perspective. Seattle was chosen to provide geographic diversity.

Seattle’s deficit is listed as $44 million, versus Detroit’s $300 million. This translates into a 5 percent general fund gap for Seattle, and 20 percent for Detroit.

Layoffs are on the table for all of the cities and some of the cities have instituted mandatory unpaid furloughs. Others, such as New York, Boston, Baltimore and Kansas City, have no plans to use furloughs. Pittsburgh has no need for them and Detroit has not discussed them. Atlanta was cited as forcing “nearly all of its general fund employees to work four fewer hours every week.” This includes police officers, firefighters and prison guards and has saved the city approximately $11.5 million.

Seattle’s is laying off around 30 employees and has instituted mandatory furloughs for professional staff in some departments.

Libraries in all of the cities are feeling the pinch. No city is proposing branch closures, but many are cutting hours and funding. Phoenix is reducing Sunday hours at some branches. Baltimore, Boston, Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia are proposing reductions in library funding and hours. Seattle is singled out as proposing a one week closure of libraries during a slow period, possibly in August.

Funding for public safety in many cities is mainly untouched, with Seattle and Los Angeles cited as continuing to plan to increase the total number of officers. At the same time, both cities are reducing civilian staff in their police departments. “In a recession, crime goes up. It’s common sense and it’s something we’re going to see. Many cities are cutting their departments, but…we need to continue to hire new patrol officers,” the report quotes Nickels.

Seattle is cited along with Phoenix, Los Angeles, Detroit and Baltimore as proposing no tax increases. Four of the 13 cities are considering increases to one or more major taxes, with Atlanta considering raising property taxes.

Get the Nickels Newsletter and the mayor's inside view on transportation, public safety, economic opportunity and healthy communities at mayor.seattle.gov

###

Office of the Mayor