Seattle Proposition 1 leads: what the transit tax would cost
See Seattle Proposition 1's initial lead, the tax difference on purchases and why doubling the levy would not double bus service.
Unofficial results checked November 3, 2026, at 11:20 p.m. Pacific.
Seattle’s Proposition 1 led with 134,326 yes votes to 50,722 no votes in the county’s initial results file, or about 72.59% of votes on the question. It would authorize a transit sales tax of up to 0.3%, replacing the existing 0.15% tax when it expires. The vote concerns future transit funding, with the replacement tax unable to start before April 1, 2027. King County ballot text and explanatory statement
The lead is 83,604 votes in an unfinished, uncertified count. The official results file, linked from the county results page, lists 193,609 ballots containing the contest. Of those, 8,225 left it blank and 336 were overvotes.
The 72.59% calculation uses 185,048 yes-or-no votes as its denominator. It is not the percentage of all Seattle residents, or even of every ballot containing the question.
How much more is that on a purchase?
The proposal replaces a tax rather than adding 0.3% on top of the current transit levy. At the proposed maximum rate, the increase over today’s transit component is 0.15 percentage points.
| Purchase | Current | Proposed | Extra |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100 | $0.15 | $0.30 | $0.15 |
| $1,000 | $1.50 | $3.00 | $1.50 |
These calculations multiply the purchase by the two rates in the city renewal explanation. They show this transit component only, not the full sales-tax bill or a household’s annual spending.
What would the money buy?
The city’s renewal plan proposes funding 275,000 bus trips per year, 95,000 more than today, with improvements outside traditional commuting hours. It also identifies free ORCA cards for 22,000 people, support for both Seattle Streetcar lines and targeted work at bus delays. Those figures imply an existing funded-trip baseline of 180,000 and an increase of about 52.8%: 95,000 divided by 180,000. The transit-tax component would double, but this particular program’s funded trips would rise by roughly half. Neither figure describes a doubling of all Metro service, and no individual route’s timetable is guaranteed by those totals.
What happens after the vote?
Approval authorizes the city to enact the replacement tax through a future ordinance, for up to ten years. A rejection would leave that proposal without voter authorization while the existing tax is scheduled to expire March 31, 2027. It would not itself establish the schedule of any subsequent service cut.
For another regional result, see the districtwide WA-08 vote.
For riders, the useful follow-up is the adopted spending plan and the operator’s dated service changes. For shoppers, it is the enacted rate and collection start date. The election answers the authorization question first.