The Existing Law:

Currently, no public monies are used to support political campaigns for Seattle elected offices.  The maximum individual contribution to a candidate’s campaign for a Seattle office is $700.  There are no spending limitations.  A person can make unlimited contributions to independent political committees that are unconnected to and not coordinated with a candidate’s campaign.

State law provides that:  “A county, city, town, or district that establishes a program to publicly finance local political campaigns may only use funds derived from local sources to fund the program. A local government must submit any proposal for public financing of local political campaigns to voters for their adoption and approval or rejection.” RCW 42.17A.550

The Effect of the measure if approved:

If approved by the voters, Proposition 1 would create a program to publicly fund qualifying candidates’ political campaigns for city-wide City Council positions.  Should Seattle City Charter Amendment 19 be approved, this program will not apply to councilmember positions elected by districts that are not city-wide.  A proposal to extend the program to cover district council races could be enacted if it complied with RCW 42.17A.550.

Eligibility

To participate in the program and be eligible for public funds, a candidate needs to meet the following criteria:

1. File with the Seattle Ethics & Elections Commission (SEEC) a statement of intent to participate in the program sometime between January 1 of the election year and 14 days after the filing of a declaration of candidacy with King County Elections.  (A declaration of candidacy must be filed between the Monday two weeks before Memorial Day and the following Friday in the election year for the office.)
    
2. Agree to abide by the terms of the program by filing a Participation Agreement with the SEEC before 14 days have elapsed after filing a declaration of candidacy.
    
3. Collect at least 600 qualifying contributions of at least $10 each, in a period between the filing of a statement of intent and 21 days after filing a declaration of candidacy.   This period can start as early as January 1 of the election year and end as late as sometime in June of the election year.   Qualifying (“Matchable”) contributions must be from human Seattle residents; that is, not from corporations or other types of legal persons resident in Seattle.  Candidates may accept non-Matchable contributions from anyone.
    
4. Agree to participate in three debates/forums, and
    
5. Be opposed by at least one person who has filed a Declaration of Candidacy for the same Seattle City Council position with King County Elections who is still in the election on the Tuesday following the period for filing the declaration of candidacy, and who has campaign expenditures, debts and obligations, and cash on hand that combined total at least $6,000.

Basic Program Structure

Participating candidates will receive public funds to match eligible contributions.  A participating candidate will receive six public dollars for each dollar of eligible contributions.  Eligible contributions are the first $50 received from each qualifying contributor.  Additionally, there is a limit to the total amount of public dollars that may be received by a candidate.  A candidate may receive no more than $105,000 for the primary election and no more than $210,000 for the Primary and general election combined.

The participating candidates must agree to a spending cap of $140,000 for the Primary and an overall spending cap of $245,000.

No more than 180 days after each City Council election, the SEEC must report to the City Council whether the SEEC has determined that any changes would improve the program.  After receiving this report, this program structure may be changed by subsequent ordinance, but only after a report from the SEEC, and then only to the extent of changing dollar values by up to 15%, the number of Matchable contributions required by up to 100, or any of the required dates and times.

Lifting of the Spending Cap

If a non-participating candidate’s total campaign expenditures, debts and obligations combined with cash on hand exceeds the campaigns spending limit agreed to by participating candidates, then the spending limit is removed for all participating candidates in the same race.  Additionally, if independent expenditures benefit a candidate, whether participating or not, and those expenditures (added to the candidate’s total campaign expenditures, debts and obligations and cash on hand) exceed the spending limitation on participating candidates, then the spending limitation is removed for all participating candidates in the same race who did not benefit from the expenditure.  If the candidate who benefits from the independent expenditure is a participating candidate, then the spending limit shall remain in place for that candidate until such time as another participating candidate exceeds the expenditure limitation in the same race.

If a participating candidate's spending limit is removed and that candidate's total campaign expenditures, debts and obligations and cash on hand exceed $140,000 in the primary, then that candidate is required to adhere to a general election spending limit of $105,000.  If a participating candidate's limit is removed and that candidate's total campaign expenditures, debts and obligations and cash on hand do not exceed $140,000 in the primary, then that candidate is required to adhere to the overall election spending limit of $245,000.

Other Program Features

Participating candidates may withdraw from the program, but must return any public money received with interest.  A Participating Candidate must return unexpended Matching Funds to the City for deposit into the Campaign Program Fund no later than 30 days after he or she is elected, defeated, or withdraws.

In the event that the funds available in the Campaign Program Fund are insufficient to provide every participating candidate with the funds he or she would be eligible to receive, the amount of public funds given to each candidate is reduced proportionally until the total amount given to participating candidates equals the amount of funds available.

In addition to other penalties and remedies provided for violation of the City of Seattle’s campaign finance laws, participating candidates who violate the provisions of this program are subject to a penalty up to the amount of the public monies made available to the candidate and/or subject to a fine of up to twice the amount of any expenditure in excess of a spending limitation.

Taxes to Support this Program

In order to fund this program, Proposition 1 also contains a proposed six-year property tax increase.  Proposition 1 would authorize the collection of more property taxes than would otherwise be allowed by the limits imposed under the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) Chapter 84.55. That state law generally limits the annual increase in property tax revenue to 1% over the highest amount that the City could have received in one of the three most recent years. Proposition 1 lifts that lid on property taxes.

The taxes authorized by Proposition 1are in addition to those collected under the limits of RCW 84.55 or any other authorized levy lid lifts. In the first year of collection (2014), the total amount of increased property taxes for the purposes of this proposition is limited to $2 million.  The additional tax rate associated with the tax increase authorized by Proposition 1 for any property owner would be approximately 1.64 cents per thousand dollars of assessed value.  A person with a home worth $350,000 would pay approximately an additional $5.74 in taxes the first year of the tax.

The City’s total regular property-tax rate would not exceed the state-law rate limit of $3.60 per $1,000 of assessed value. Taxes levied in 2019 for collection in 2020, and later tax levies, would be calculated as if Proposition 1 had not been passed.

For additional questions regarding this measure contact: Monica Martinez Simmons - City Clerk 206-684-8361 • monica.simmons@seattle.gov