The Burien City Council’s Nov. 4, 2024 regular meeting focused on pressing local and state issues, exploring strategies to address the housing crisis, particularly the need for STEP housing.

They also discussed the upcoming state legislative session, highlighting concerns over potential budget cuts and policy changes. The city’s biennial budget review revealed potential financial challenges, leading the council to approve a property tax levy lift proposal for future voter consideration.

STEP Housing

Council heard a presentation on STEP (Shelter, Transitional, Emergency, and Permanent) Housing. Emergency and transitional housing increases are required statewide in areas that are zoned for residential or hotels, so the council needs to decide on how to implement these zoning changes.

The recommended zoning gives a minimum required distance between bigger STEP projects, so no one area will be heavily impacted. In addition, projects over a certain size will require neighborhood notice in advance as well as one or two community meetings. Smaller STEP housing that is unlikely to impact neighbors, as well as domestic violence shelters that depend on confidentiality, will not require the same openness and location disclosure.

All in all, it was recommended to not put too many restrictions or regulations on the development of STEP housing. It is already very difficult to pencil out this type of development, and they just won’t be able to build in areas that are too restrictive or that require answering to the city in every detail. An ordinance around STEP housing will be brought to Council at the next meeting, with final adoption planned for December 9th.

Mayor Kevin Schilling brought up another type of housing that Burien is in desperate need of: Middle housing. He said the city needs 3,000 new units of housing for those earning more than 120% AMI (Area Median Income).

State Legislative Agenda

Burien’s State Lobbyist Lyset Cadena described the next legislative session, which will run from January through April of next year. She said there are a lot of unknowns right now, as many legislative seats are open, there will be a new governor for the first time in a decade, and there are multiple initiatives on the ballot which could seriously impact the budget.

In addition, she said the state has a $5 to $10 billion dollar deficit, depending on who you ask. This deficit will only increase if two crucial initiatives pass: repealing the Climate Commitment Act and eliminating the carbon tax.

Either way, the state has to cut significant spending, and the law doesn’t allow those cuts to be from education. Following the recession of 2008, many cuts to social services were made that are still impacting the lives of Washingtonians. We are likely to see more cuts in the coming legislation.

Burien’s legislative priorities include meeting the increasing demand for housing across the income continuum, getting assistance for migrants and asylum seekers, revising the property tax cap so it can increase at a higher rate when inflation is high, and funding behavioral health co-responder models, including expanding grants and support for co-responder programs and training.

Councilmember Hugo Garcia added that he’d like to see Burien have a state-supported parks district, FIFA improvements for the 2026 World Cup, and support for a community soccer club. All councilmembers were in support of noise mitigation for the planned 509 freeway expansion. They also wanted to see more money for youth activities and gang intervention, vocational training and education, and expanded childcare resources.

Biennial Budget Review Continued

The city’s 2025/2026 budget is structurally sound, but will be operating at a slight deficit by 2027. The deficit is expected to only get larger by 2030. The general fund will temporarily be balanced with money from the City Manager’s Reserve Fund during the coming biennium.

Costs like insurance and police have gone way up in Burien, as well as for cities across the country. Burien staff have done every cost saving measure available to them, along with maxing out available revenue sources.

There is currently a 1% levy limit on property taxes that go to the city, which make up about 7% of the total property tax homeowners pay. Staff hope to have a levy lid lift on a future ballot, allowing voters to decide if they want to pay a slightly higher property tax in order to have a functioning city government. Council voted unanimously to put the property tax levy on the consent agenda of the next meeting.