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NOVEMBER 20, 2024
VOL. 105, NO. 47
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Magnolia news
Seattle homeowners can expect to pay over $2,300 to city after new levy passes By Spencer Pauley The Center Square
Seattle voters have passed the largest tax proposal in city history, and homeowners will end up paying an average of more than $2,300 toward city services.
Proposition 1 was approved by over 65% of tallied voter in the general election. The eight-year levy package totals $1.55 billion. The new levy is expected to cost a median homeowner in Seattle an additional $530
a year. The levy authorizes an eight-year tax increase for collection beginning in 2025 of approximately 65 cents per $1,000 in assessed value. However, the ballot measure notes that it can go up to a maximum of $2.71
per $1,000. This confuses some readers. The Center Square reached out to the city to understand this explanation on the ballot measure. Mariam Ali, press secretary for the Seattle Department of Transportation,
explained that the 65-cent levy rate is called the “mill rate.” The mill rate on a given year will increase or decrease based on the total assessed value of all property in the city including residential, commercial, and industrial.
The $2.71 per $1,000 in assessed value rate that was listed on the ballot measure is the calculated city total rate of all existing city levies, including Proposition 1. It’s important to note that
LEVY, A4
Reykdal reelected as state superintendent of public instruction, as challenges loom By Carleen Johnson The Center Square
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
SEATTLE, WA PERMIT 1271
Incumbent Chris Reykdal has officially won a third term as Washington’s superintendent of public instruction. With about 160,000 votes outstanding statewide on Wednesday, Reykdal leads his challenger, David Olson, by nearly 205,000 votes. Olson performed better than almost all Republican challengers in statewide executive races, garnering more than 46% of the vote. Only Republican state lands commissioner candidate Jaime Herrera Beutler earned a larger share of statewide votes for a Republican, with 47% overall. King County Council Chair Dave Upthegrove won the race for lands commissioner. Olson, a Peninsula School District board member, told The Center Square he was disappointed with the outcome. “The geographic majority of the state voted for me, but this pocket in King County [33.6% for Olson] continues to control how everyone else in the state has to live their lives,” Olson said, noting he was encouraged by the support he did receive. “A million-and-a-half people in our state saying they are unhappy with the guy running our show is an indictment in my opinion,” he said. “I think we’re going to continue to lose
REYKDAL, A3