Published November 6 2026
Plus, Community Court achievements highlighted, Legislative agenda adopted and Transgender Awareness Week proclaimed
During Tuesday’s meeting, the City Council discussed outstanding questions in the 2027-2028 Preliminary Budget and provided direction on eight topic areas before scheduled final action on the budget later this month. The discussion focused on balancing additional needs for transportation and public-safety infrastructure, human services, sustainability investments and community activation with limited contingency funds and other revenue sources.
Transportation funding: Councilmembers considered the scale and timing of transportation investments through the department’s long-term Capital Investment Plan. The council reviewed three options from the preliminary budget and a new hybrid funding option (option 2b), which would use Transportation Benefit District funding authority of a 0.1% 10-year transportation-dedicated sales tax without adding car tab fees. The inclusion of a car tab fee increase was represented in option 3. The selected option would fund future projects to further build the city’s transportation network, improve safety, improve neighborhood mobility and provide access to regional transit. The council voted 5-1 – with Councilmember Naren Briar absent and Councilmember Jared Nieuwenhuis voting no – to include the hybrid option 2b in the 2027-2028 budget actions. All four of the considered transportation funding scenarios are detailed in the meeting materials.
Fire station replacement: The council weighed funding and sequencing for replacement of the aging Fire Station 6 as part of the city’s long-term public safety infrastructure plan. Councilmembers voted unanimously to designate in the budget $15 million in municipal long-range planning reserves for land acquisition to re-site the station.
Human services: Councilmembers considered approaches for allocating the new King County Children and Families Sales Tax revenue in Bellevue for the 2027–2028 biennium. The recommended approach builds on Bellevue's established Human Services funding framework, documented community needs, and the Human Services Commission's recently completed review and funding recommendations. The council also discussed an additional $500,000 in one-time support for community needs such as sheltering programs, financial assistance, food access and other support services. The council voted unanimously to approve the recommended approach to distributing the sales tax revenue for children and families, and to include the additional one-time human services funding in the final 2027-2028 budget.
Sustainability investments: Councilmembers considered the level and timing of proposed additional investments supporting the city’s environmental stewardship and climate goals. Investment options included expansion of heat pump incentives through the Energy Smart Eastside program, increasing commercial and multifamily building energy efficiency incentives, supporting EV charging infrastructure in multifamily complexes and increasing overall sustainability program awareness and participation. The council voted unanimously to include supplemental funding of $1.5 million in the 2027-2028 budget for sustainability goals.
Council contingency: The council considered activating a portion of its contingency funding and how much to retain for emerging needs. Councilmembers voted unanimously to designate $100,000 in the budget to support markets such as the Bellevue Farmers Market, augmenting the existing planned community activation funding. The vote also would add $50,000 to initiate an Affordable Housing Strategy action item to develop bank financing partnerships for constructing cottages and detached accessory dwelling units, and include $50,000 in the budget for the Neighbors Helping Neighbors program that provides short-term utility bill assistance. These items will be voted on as part of the final budget actions taken by council later this month.
The full budget discussion is available on Bellevue Television and additional information is available in the meeting materials.
Community Court celebrates achievements
In other business, councilmembers received a briefing on the results of Bellevue’s first community court program after one year of operations. The court is held every Thursday at the Bellevue Library and is a partnership between the city, the King County District Court and the King County Library System.
Community Court provides an alternative approach to addressing eligible, nonviolent misdemeanor offenses by combining accountability with connections to services that address underlying challenges people are facing. In the first year, 42 people opted into the program. Twelve are still in the program and 30 have graduated. Astonishingly, the graduation rate is 100% and the recidivism rate for participants is 0%.
In addition, the court sentencing has resulted in more than 250 service hours worked in the community at places including the Bellevue Botanical Garden, Mercer Slough and Kelsey Creek Farm.
The court also hosts a resource center at the library each week, which attracted 1,474 visitors in the first year. More than 1,000 hot meals were distributed at the resource center and 56 people were connected to housing options.
Legislative Agenda adopted
The council unanimously adopted Bellevue’s amended 2027 State Legislative Agenda, establishing the city’s priorities for the legislative session beginning in January. The agenda emphasizes the importance of economic competitiveness when considering new state revenue options, flexible tools and partnerships for affordable housing, and funding for I-405/SR 167 corridor projects and local capital projects, while providing guidance for advocacy on broader policy issues. Staff will now brief state lawmakers, coordinate with regional partners and prepare advocacy materials ahead of the session.
The amendments to the draft agenda were made in response to councilmember feedback on the agenda’s language at an earlier council meeting. More details about the agenda and amendments are available in the meeting materials.
Proclamation for Transgender Awareness Week and Day of Remembrance
The council presented a proclamation for Transgender Awareness Week and Transgender Day of Remembrance to honor and recognize our transgender neighbors and remember those who have been lost to violence.