Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Newsletter

City of Seattle, Washington sent this bulletin at 06/24/2020 09:52 AM PDT

Adjustments to our 2020 budget

Over the past few months, we have all been enduring unprecedented change that is fundamentally altering our City. In response to COVID-19, all City of Seattle departments, including Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, have shifted our work and efforts to support our communities during this crisis. And, we will continue to adapt and do everything we can to ensure that all Seattle residents, particularly our most vulnerable residents, have the resources, information, and support they need to respond to and recover from the impacts of this pandemic. 

As we are all too aware, one of the major impacts of this crisis has been financial. A new budget forecast for 2020 shows a $210 – $300 million dollar shortfall in the City of Seattle’s General Fund. This is the fund through which the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods budget is allocated. As a department, it was clear that we had to make some tough decisions to adjust to this new budget reality.

We examined our budget to find ways that we could make reductions while still maintaining the integrity of our core programs and services and minimizing the impact on our community. In the end, we were able to reduce our 2020 budget by $4,865,000.  

We did so by reducing our grant funding for the year, postponing the new Healthy Food Fund grant program, and shelving new funding that would have allowed us to make capital investments in our P-Patch community gardens.  

We understand that these changes will have direct impacts on you and your community. Please know that our staff continues to work tirelessly to maintain our programs and ensure that your needs, concerns, and ideas are at the forefront of our decision making. 

Go to our blog for more details on our proposed 2020 budget reductions.

OTHER CITY NEWS

Governor Jay Inslee Announces Statewide Mask Mandate: Beginning June 26, every Washingtonian in an indoor public space, or in an outside public space when unable to physically distance from others, will be legally required to wear a face covering. (more)

King County is Now in Phase 2: Limited social gatherings may be held with five or fewer people outside your household. Restaurants, retailers and other businesses can once again serve customers. Most businesses will be required to operate at reduced capacity and hours. (more)

Four More Miles of Stay Healthy Streets Announced: New Stay Healthy Streets opening this week: Cedar Park Neighborhood Greenway, along the Wallingford Neighborhood Greenway, Bell Street between 1st and 5th avenues, and extending the Beacon Hill Stay Healthy Street south to S Lucile St. (more)

City Awards an Additional 143 Grants to Small Businesses: The Office of Economic Development (OED) awarded an additional 143 businesses $10,000 grants from the second round of the Small Business Stabilization Fund. OED prioritized businesses located in areas of the city that are at risk of high-displacement. (more)

Take the Washington State Food Security Survey: The University of Washington and Washington State University have created the Washington State Food Security Survey to gain a better understanding of how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted economic security and food access for Washington State residents. (more)

Comment on Zoning Modifications at Northgate Elementary School: The public is invited to share its feedback regarding the development plans for Northgate Elementary School located at 11725 1st Avenue NE. (more)

Comment on Zoning Modifications at Kimball Elementary School: The public is invited to share its feedback regarding the development plans for Kimball Elementary School located at 3200 23rd Ave S in Beacon Hill. (more)

Share Your Feedback on Route 40 Improvements: King County Metro and Seattle Department of Transportation will host an online open house on June 30 to get feedback on improvements for the Route 40 Transit-Plus Multimodal Corridor project. (more)

West Seattle Bridge Update: New analysis indicates that repairing the West Seattle High-Rise Bridge may be possible. (more)

City of Seattle Invests $320,000 to Improve Digital Literacy and Access to Technology: Fifteen organizations will receive funding for community-led projects which aim to increase access to technology and provide digital skills training for underserved communities. (more)