Fewer staff, longer reviews? Seattle Mayor Harrell proposes cuts to city's construction department

Seattle’s Department of Construction and Inspections would lose about 30 positions under Mayor Bruce Harrell’s proposed budget, which would reduce general fund support for the department by $2.9 million in 2025 and $2.5 million in 2026.

The city says there’s been much less demand for land use permits in recent years due to the cyclical nature of construction, and a long spell of high interest rates.

Master use permit applications are anticipated to be down 65% by the end of this year compared to 2019, meaning less need for zoning inspectors on projects like mother-in-law units or townhomes.

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Jamie Fackler, a city building inspector and union shop steward, argues that those jobs will be needed when the cycle goes back up and that slashing positions would delay building permits now.

“Whether you're building a house, building a backyard cottage, whether you want to cut a tree in your backyard, we're going to have longer review times," Fackler said. "We're seeing significant reductions in the groups that review all those things.”

Fackler says the job cuts would equate to half as much staff time for those permit reviews.

Department spokesperson Bryan Stevens said the job cuts are not anticipated to lengthen permit wait times, and that the city has to cut the budget to account for the major drop in revenue from user fees that make up 90% of the department's budget.

The Seattle City Council is holding budget hearings this week with a final vote scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 21.

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