December 31, 1998 - CURRENT
Section 2. 1998 General Government Revenue
The City’s general government revenue in 1998 totaled $799.6 million. This included revenue to the City’s General Fund, Special Revenue Funds, and Debt Service Funds. Revenue was composed of the following elements:
- Property tax accounted for $151.5 million of 1998 general government revenue, or 19% of the total. This figure included revenue from (1) Seattle’s 1998 regular levy rate for general purposes of $2.598 per $1,000 of assessed value (AV), (2) a 1998 rate for excess levies approved by Seattle voters in the 1960’s and 1970’s of $0.222 (for debt service on long-term bonds for fire stations, neighborhood improvements, Seattle Center, police precincts, sewers, and other improvements), and (3) a 1998 rate for special levies approved in the 1990’s by Seattle voters of $0.511 (for the Families and Education Levy and the Low Income Housing Levies). In addition to the general government revenue, Seattle received property tax revenue in 1998 from a $0.137 special levy rate for the Seattle Center Redevelopment/Parks Community Center Levy (deposited into a Capital Projects Fund), and from a $0.225 fire pension rate for the Firemen’s Pension Fund (deposited into a Fiduciary Fund).
- The City’s 1998 property tax rate totaled $3.693 per $1,000 AV. For a $188,700 home (the 1998 Seattle average residential AV), this translates into a $696.87 tax burden in 1998. As shown in the figure below, Seattle’s $3.693 tax rate is about a third of the total $12.158 combined property tax rate of all the tax districts that overlap the City. The revenue from the remaining rate goes to King County, the State (for distribution to school districts), the Port of Seattle, and the public schools.
- Sales tax generated $114.8 million in 1998 Seattle general government revenue, or 14% of the total. The overall sales tax rate in Seattle is 8.6% (9.1% for restaurant and bar sales). As shown in the figure below, Seattle’s share of this rate is 0.85%. Revenue from the remaining rate goes to the State (6.5%), King County Metro Transit (0.6%), King County (0.15%), Sound Transit (0.4%), and the King County Criminal Justice Levy (0.1%). Seattle gets its share of the revenues from the King County Criminal Justice Levy based on population.
- Seattle’s Business and Occupation (B&O) tax generated $104.5 million in 1998 general government revenue, or 13% of the total. The City levies the B&O tax on the gross receipts of most business activities occurring in Seattle. The B&O tax rate is 0.415% for services and 0.215% for most other economic activities except for grain wholesaling and flour manufacturing, which are taxed at 0.0215%.
- The utility B&O tax generated $81.9 million in 1998 general government revenue, or 10% of the total. The City levies a 6% tax rate on City Light’s gross receipts and a 10% rate on the receipts of the other rate-funded public utilities (Water, Solid Waste, and Drainage and Wastewater). The utility B&O tax rate on private utilities also ranges from 6% to 10%, with the 6% rate levied on telephone, natural gas, and steam gross receipts, and the 10% rate levied on cable communications and commercial refuse.
- Other taxes and miscellaneous charges generated $44.3 million in 1998 general government
revenue, or 6% of the total. Included in this category are the real estate excise tax,
admission tax, leasehold excise tax, gambling tax, and boat excise tax.
- $32.5 million from licenses and permits, e.g., occupational licenses and building permits.
- $99.6 million from government and private grants, and shared revenues.
- $68.6 million from charges for services, including billings between City funds, and external billings for recreational program fees, charges for inspection, utility cuts, etc.
- $17.7 million from fines and forfeitures, primarily court fines and costs, and bail forfeitures.
- $84.2 million from other miscellaneous sources, e.g., interest earnings, space rent, and parking fees.
If, as a simplifying assumption, we assume that tax costs assessed to Seattle businesses are eventually passed along to Seattle citizens, we can use the information above to develop a per capita statistic for the annual direct and indirect general government revenues received from Seattle residents. In 1998, Seattle’s population was estimated to be 539,700. Dividing this figure into $700 million (total general government revenue, minus $99.6 million for government and private grants and shared revenue) results in an annual per capita contribution (direct and indirect) to Seattle general government costs of $1,297, or 3.4 cents on each dollar of personal income (using the 1998 King County per capita income figure of $38,479).
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