Published January 16 2025
Plus, 2025 legislative session and Bellevue schools update
The City Council Tuesday voted to update the Downtown Subarea Plan to ensure downtown keeps its status as a regional growth center, a designation that ensures the city is eligible for federal transportation funds.
Bellevue’s downtown was originally designated a regional growth center in 1995 and was last redesignated in 2020. The city must meet criteria established by the Puget Sound Regional Council to keep that designation, primarily updating data and growth targets in the subarea plan and adding policies related to equity, displacement and the environment.
The subarea plan update will be part of the 2025 annual Comprehensive Plan amendment cycle and will focus on aligning with the recently adopted periodic update to the Comprehensive Plan, which included new growth targets for 2044. The subarea plan will also address new parameters for regional growth centers included in PSRC’s Vision 2050 plan for growth.
Community, businesses and others interested in downtown and surrounding neighborhoods will have an opportunity to provide feedback on the updates. More information is available in the meeting materials.
Key policy areas for the 2025 legislative session
The 2025 State Legislative session began on Jan. 13 and will last 105 days, ending April 27. The primary focus will be adopting the state's biennial budgets for 2025-27, covering operating, capital and transportation expenditures.
Key legislative topics this session will include addressing the state's budget shortfall of $10-12 billion during the biennium, tax proposals, transportation funding, land use and zoning, environmental sustainability and school funding. Housing supply and land use issues will continue to be prominent, with proposals to ease housing development and require more affordable housing near transit.
Bellevue’s legislative priorities for 2025, adopted as the city's State Legislative Agenda in October 2024, include advocating for Bellevue Grand Connection funding, improving transportation infrastructure, addressing affordable housing and enhancing digital permitting. To support these priorities and navigate the state's budget constraints, the city is engaging in the legislative process with meetings, receptions and advocacy.
The full presentation and council discussion on the state legislative session is available on Bellevue Television replay and more detail on the city's intergovernmental relations activities is available in the meeting materials.
Bellevue School District update
Bellevue School District Superintendent Kelly Aramaki gave an update on enrollment trends and projections. BSD enrollment grew for the second year, seeing 922 more students this year compared to two years ago. Aramaki also discussed new and enhanced programs including language learning, career and technical education programs, mental health support and safety improvements.
Aramaki also presented updates on sustainability efforts, accessibility and inclusion, and funding challenges facing special education programs, transportation, and materials, supplies and operating costs.
The BSD is funded in part by two local property tax levies: the Educational Programs and Operations Levy and the Technology and Capital Projects Levy. Both levies, which replaced expiring levies, were passed by Bellevue voters in February 2022 and are collected for four years, set to expire at the end of 2026.
Further details can be found in the council materials.
Proclamations
The council read proclamations in recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, National Human Trafficking Awareness Month and Korean American Day.