SEATTLE — Some programs to help struggling Seattle renters will see a funding boost while others will see their dollars slashed, a mixed picture resulting from a final Seattle City Council budget vote Thursday.
The funding maneuvers affect nonprofits and legal aid groups that help tenants understand their legal rights and resolve disputes with their landlords. Supporters say these services are crucial for keeping people housed and out of eviction court.
But the programs ended up on the chopping block this year as the city faced a severe budget deficit.
Along with debating funding for tenant aid programs, council members added more funding for rental assistance and approved a rule change altering which renters can access free legal help when facing eviction.
All told, the city will direct more funding toward tenant programs than it would have under Mayor Bruce Harrell’s proposed budget, but the funding still falls short of the investment tenant advocates say is necessary as high housing costs continue to squeeze renters.
Councilmember Tammy Morales was the only member to vote against the budget, citing cuts to tenant funding among other concerns
Funding for tenant help
In September, Harrell proposed his 2025 budget, including strategies to close a $251 million shortfall in the city’s $1.9 billion general fund. Among his proposed budget cuts were reductions to funding for rental assistance and “tenant services” programs provided through contracts with nonprofits.
Council members restored some of the funding for tenant services, approving $1.6 million for 2025, well below this year’s budget of $2.6 million, but slightly higher than the mayor’s proposal of about $1.2 million.
Less funding “could mean that tenant services organizations will be forced to scale back their programs for people on the brink of homelessness,” Mike Buchman, spokesman for the nonprofit Solid Ground, said in a statement.
Other city funds will pay for rental assistance, typically payments made directly to landlords whose tenants are behind on rent. In total, the council’s budget will fund roughly $10 million in rent assistance through the city’s human services department, including a one-time $3.3 million boost the council added using payroll tax revenues known as JumpStart.
Councilmember Cathy Moore said Thursday the increased rental assistance “is going to make a significant difference for many, many people’s lives in this city.” Moore proposed a new city capital gains tax to fund more rental assistance, but council members rejected that proposal this week.
Council members also requested reports from city agencies about “best practices” for identifying renters at risk of homelessness for preventive rent assistance and about the possibility of allowing landlords whose tenants are at risk of eviction to “opt-in to early assistance” from city-funded programs such as mediation and rent assistance.
Renter advocates agree financial assistance for people who fall behind on their rent is crucial, said Bill Hallerman, agency director of Catholic Community Services of King County, which houses the Tenant Law Center. But tenant hotlines and legal aid can help tenants facing other types of disputes. For many tenants, Hallerman said, “there is more going on than just that they’re behind this one month in rent.”
Who gets an eviction attorney
Another change in the budget will affect tenants facing imminent eviction in court.
In Seattle, free legal help is now available to any renter facing eviction who can’t afford an attorney because of “insufficient” funds. An amendment to the city’s budget will make city-funded assistance available only to people who make 200% of the federal poverty level or less, about $30,000 for a single person.
The change, first reported by the news outlet Publicola, is in line with state law, which guarantees an attorney for people making 200% of the federal poverty level or people who are receiving public assistance such as food stamps or Medicaid.
Councilmember Maritza Rivera, who co-sponsored the change, called aligning city and state requirements “prudent.”
Supporters of the prior rule argued Seattle needs a higher income limit. A full-time worker earning Seattle’s minimum wage would make about $41,500 a year and could still struggle to afford housing, Councilmember Tammy Morales said during a committee meeting this month.
“If they’re experiencing a financial crisis, there’s a real chance that they could be arbitrarily excluded,” Morales said.
The change may not have a significant effect on which tenants are accessing legal help, said Housing Justice Project senior managing attorney Edmund Witter. Most of the group’s clients already fall below the new income limit, he said.
The bigger problem is how many tenants in need the group is turning away, Witter said. Last month, HJP heard from 608 people who qualified for legal help but was only able to provide an attorney to about 150 of them.
More eviction attorneys could process more cases, but the bigger need is for more affordable housing and more financial help to avoid tenants falling behind on rent in the first place, Witter said. “Every single tenant we deal with is just getting drained by the cost of living right now.”
