Audit finds inflation, wages drove Seattle's $1.7B budget increase

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Audit finds inflation, wages drove Seattle's $1.7B budget increase

Seattle’s city budget grew 29% over the past five years, mostly because of increased labor costs plus high inflation.  About $90 million of the budget increase — from $6.1 billion in 2019 to $7.8 billion in 2024 — came from the creation of new programs such as the Clean City Initiative to pick up trash and the Unified Care Team that does homeless encampment outreach and clearance. Though $1.7 billion is a far cry from pocket change, it averages …