No Increase to SeaTac Property Taxes

On November 27, the SeaTac City Council voted unanimously to pass an ordinance with no increase in the city’s 2025 property tax levy. Additionally, the city chose not to take advantage of the opportunity to increase property taxes based on its “banked capacity” to do so. The “banked capacity” is the result of prior years when the city also took less than the full amount of increase in property taxes that state law allows.

Under state law, cities can increase property taxes every year by the lesser of inflation, or 1%. In 2024 there was a proposal in the state legislature to allow cities to increase the total amount of property taxes they collect each year by 3% (a 200% increase over the current 1% limit), but that legislation generated such fierce opposition that the two sponsors withdrew the proposal.

The sustained restraint of SeaTac City Councilmembers on property tax increases is reflected in this table from the city.