In February 2023, Seattle voted in support of Initiative 135 and created the first social housing developer in Seattle. Social housing is a proven model of affordable housing around the world that is permanently affordable, publicly owned, and mixed income. The I-135 campaign was led by the organization House Our Neighbors which envisions a future where all people can afford to live and thrive in vibrant, cohesive, and climate resilient communities. 

Following the success of that campaign, the next stage is securing the funding to start building. The House Our Neighbors campaign is educating the community and collecting signatures for Initiative 137 which will create the social housing payroll tax. This payroll tax will provide the funding needed for Seattle Social Housing Developers to build social housing (more below).

On May 16, we will be joined online by a member of the Community Advisory Committee for House Our Neighbors, Suresh Chanmugam, to learn more about Initiative 137 and the vision of a Seattle with publicly owned housing that is mixed income, permanently affordable, and guided by the leadership of residents. 

Learn more about Social Housing here: https://www.houseourneighbors.org/social-housing. 

What is the social housing payroll tax? 

An excess compensation payroll tax on businesses. If an employer compensates a Seattle-based employee over a million dollars annually, they will pay the social housing payroll tax on all compensation above a million dollars. Compensation at a million dollars and below would not be subject to this tax.

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