A recent poll conducted by the Seattle Times and Suffolk University revealed that a majority of Seattle residents support a $970 million property-tax levy for affordable housing on the ballot this fall. The current levy is set to expire this year, and the new triple-sized levy will face its final vote in autumn. Of those polled, 57% said they are in favor of it while 30% expressed their opposition; 12% were undecided. The phone survey was conducted from June 12th to 16th with 500 participants, having an error margin of 4.4 percentage points.
The existing $290 million housing levy passed in 2016 with 71%, while 66% voted for its predecessor back in 2009 – both figures highlighting how popular such levies have become due to rising living costs and lack of affordable homes across the city .