Seattle’s proposed 2027-28 budget would increase funding for police and the city’s civilian public-safety department while reducing the Fire Department’s overtime.
Seattle’s proposed 2027-28 budget would increase funding for police and the city’s civilian public-safety department while reducing the Fire Department’s overtime spending as officials confront a long-term General Fund deficit.
The Seattle Fire Department’s proposed General Fund budget would decrease from $349.2 million in 2026 to $346.2 million in 2027, then rise to $354 million in 2028. The plan cuts $7.1 million annually from operating overtime, a 17% reduction in that budget line.
Fire officials said the department would manage staffing with available resources, including planned temporary unit outages, while maintaining core fire and emergency response through remaining staffed apparatus. The proposal also adds $1.02 million annually for utilities and inflation-driven maintenance costs.
Separately, the city proposes $8.7 million over the biennium for Fire Station 25 renovations and $2 million in the 2026 year-end supplemental budget to begin repairs on the out-of-service fireboat Leschi. The department would add 10 firefighter positions dedicated to its Mobile Integrated Health program, using money already budgeted.
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The Seattle Police Department’s General Fund support would rise from $483.3 million in 2026 to $549.7 million in 2027 and $560.1 million in 2028. The proposal includes $12.6 million in ongoing funding for additional sworn officers and $57.8 million for negotiated wage increases and premiums.
Police staffing and overtime account for about 80% of the department’s proposed 2027 budget, according to the presentation. The department is funded for 1,250 sworn positions in 2027 and 2028, with average filled positions projected at 1,229 in 2027 and 1,250 in 2028.
SPD’s overtime budget would increase by $12.6 million, largely reflecting higher wages under labor contracts, while the number of funded overtime hours would remain unchanged.
The proposal also reduces recruitment marketing by $1.95 million annually and ends new hiring incentives. It eliminates or reduces funding for several vacant civilian and support positions, including parking enforcement, real-time crime center and investigative-support jobs.
The budget would add seven full-time speed cameras beginning in mid-2027, funded through camera-program revenue, along with four civilian positions to review citations.
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The Community Assisted Response and Engagement Department, or CARE, would receive about $72.6 million in ongoing resources in 2027, a net increase of about $4 million.
CARE acts as the city's resource to "provide diversified community-focused responses to 911 calls identified as behavioral health, non-emergent, low-acuity, and low-risk." It aims to create a new initiative to integrate the city’s violence intervention programs, "using research and evidence-based strategies to reduce violence," including identifying specific and measurable outcomes.
CARE's budget proposal said it ultimately seeks to improve health and safety by unifying and aligning Seattle’s community-focused, non-police public safety investments.
Its General Fund allocation would rise from $66.6 million in 2026 to $70.5 million in 2027 and $71 million in 2028. CARE’s plan removes funding for eight vacant 911 call-taker positions and pauses hiring for 14 vacant community crisis responder positions, though the responder positions would remain authorized. CARE said it would continue its alternative-response expansion, which has reached five locations and operates from 6:30 a.m. to 1 a.m.
The CARE proposal also transfers $6.3 million from the Human Services Department to implement the mayor’s gun violence plan, including $5.08 million for community violence intervention and three new positions. It adds $1.6 million annually for the CoLEAD program to maintain dedicated housing capacity and service continuity, plus $757,631 for inflation in CoLEAD, LEAD and WDC public-safety contracts.
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The proposals are subject to review and possible changes by the Seattle City Council as it considers the 2027-28 budget.
