While seeking to make housing affordable for approximately 3,000 families, or 0.5% of the population, everyone else will see their housing affordability go down via property taxes (which will be passed down to renters). I'm all for keeping Seattle affordable, but this does not do that. To the tune of $3 million. Let's find a better approach.

Typo @2 - $300 million, not $3 million!

Homelessness is increasing because more people are becoming homeless. The reasons for that are many and societal; they can't be cured by a housing levy. However, what a housing levy CAN do is provide housing for some of those now homeless and becoming homeless. Market-rate developers aren't doing that, even if they build tax-credit housing. I live in tax-credit housing and it most assuredly is not low-income housing.

For senior homeowners who can't afford their property tax, King County has a program through which property tax may either be reduced or postponed until the property is sold.

The new levy will cost on average only $5 more a month than the average homeowner is already paying for the current levy. If you own a house that is worth $2 million+ and will be paying a lot more than that $5/month, then I really have no sympathy for you -- that sympathy's already being spent on the people who have nowhere to live.

Raise property taxes so Carl Haglund gets his rent checks. That's ironic.

We need 50k units of city subsidized housing. 5k units of "housing first" for homeless people and 45k units of below AMI subsidized housing. Seattle has a AAA credit rating, it should borrow and build at least 50, 75 story 1000 unit apartment buildings as closely located to the light-rail as possible.

@ jackkay if you have paid off your mortgage your cost of living must be truly very low. Seems very greedy to refuse to help the poor in you city. Taxes represent a very small part of anyone's mortgage payment (principle, interest,t axes, insurance). Frankly anyone 50+ and owning a SFH should be forcibly relocated from the city and their house bulldozed to build apodment style housing for the poor.