Which Proposition 2 is this?

Proposition 2 on the 2025 ballot in King County, Washington. Several different measures can carry the same number on one county ballot, so the year, the county and the body asking are all needed to identify one.

Where do these results come from?

The Washington Secretary of State’s certified election results. We publish the certified canvass, not election-night returns.

Why is there no argument for or against here?

Washington publishes committee-written for and against statements for most local measures. We have not ingested them. Showing one side without the other would be worse than showing neither.

Ballot measure · Washington State

City of Seattle Proposition No. 2 — King County 2025

City of Seattle Proposition No. 2 — King County 2025 was on the 2025 ballot in King County, Washington. It passed with 71% voting yes, on 268,513 votes cast.

2025
King County
City Measure
Proposition 2
Passed

Source WA Secretary of State official election results · as of 2026-08-07

The result

71%

voted yes

Passed

certified outcome

268,513

votes cast on this measure

Yes 71% · No 29%

Source WA Secretary of State certified election results · as of 2026-08-07

What it costs you

We cannot calculate what this measure costs a household. That figure needs the levy rate per thousand dollars of assessed value, and the result export does not carry it — it records how people voted, not what they were voting on. We will not estimate it: a wrong number on a household tax bill is worse than no number. The rate is published in the county assessor’s levy certification and in the voters’ pamphlet for the election.

Last checked 2026-08-07

The case for and against

Printed in the county voters’ pamphlet and mailed to every voter in the jurisdiction. Written by committees the jurisdiction appointed, and reproduced here exactly as they wrote them.

Statement in favor

Written by Bruce Harrell, Alexis Mercedes Rinck, Tanya Nguyen yesseattleprop2.com

This measure will make Seattle’s tax code more fair, reduce taxes for small and neighborhood businesses, and protect investments in housing, public safety, and social services from devastating Trump cuts. With a modest shift in Seattle’s Business & Occupation Tax (B&O) to the city’s largest corporations, Proposition 2 reduces the burden on 90% of Seattle employers, and eliminates city B&O taxes for over 75% of our smallest businesses. This relief will help struggling retailers and restaurants citywide, stabilize consumer prices, and protect local jobs. While tax relief for small businesses is permanent, other provisions sunset in 2033, ensuring we can adjust policies to meet the economic needs of our city. All funds are subject to audits for accountability. Proposition 2 will help safeguard our city from Trump’s cuts by protecting programs working class families depend on and keeping vulnerable people housed and fed. Without these programs, our overdose crisis and homelessness emergency will get worse. This innovative proposal is endorsed by employers – including voices for women and minority-owned businesses– as well as unions, Mayor Bruce Harrell, Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck, and leaders in the fight for tax fairness. Please vote Yes on Proposition 2. Rebuttal of statement in opposition Seattle’s small businesses keep neighborhoods alive and provide local jobs. Prop 2 delivers real relief by eliminating B&O taxes for firms under $2 million about 3 of 4 so they can pay workers, cover rent, and stay open. The largest 10% of companies will contribute more, generating $80–90 million a year for safer streets, transportation, housing, and human services. That fair balance supports small shops and vital services. Vote Yes to protect jobs and keep Seattle strong.

Statement in opposition

Written by Eugene Wasserman eugene@ecwassociates.com

Seattle’s tax system differs from that of many other US cities. Seattle businesses contribute a significantly higher percentage of the Seattle City Government’s costs compared to businesses in other cities. For most Seattle residents, the Seattle City Government offers a tax bargain. To continue this bargain for Seattle residents, Seattle’s existing businesses must grow, and new companies must move in. Many Seattle businesses are struggling. Others have decided to leave the city. Just look at the vacant locations of former local or national retail stores downtown and the 31 percent vacancy rate in downtown office space. Maintaining healthy business growth across small, medium, and large businesses is essential. While Prop 2 provides a tax break to small companies, it more than doubles the tax burden for medium and large companies. Several years ago, the City’s jump-start tax was placed on Seattle’s large businesses, primarily those in the tech sector. Since then, Microsoft has removed all its businesses from Seattle. Amazon has laid off 10,000 employees, relocated employees to Bellevue, and established new business units in other parts of the US. Simply taxing businesses will not solve the Seattle Government’s long-term issues. Vote No on Seattle Prop 2. Rebuttal of statement in favor Seattle’s B&O tax system is not a business income tax; it is a gross receipts tax. Some tax relief will be going to a person who makes a million dollars a year, and penalize low-margin profit businesses. The tax increase is not a modest shift, but an over- doubling of the B&O tax. If Seattle gets a reputation as a bad business environment, more Seattle residents will be unemployed and homeless.

Neither statement is fact-checked, by the county or by us. King County Elections prints these as the committees submit them and does not correct punctuation, grammar, or accuracy. They are arguments, not findings. We reproduce them because they are what voters were sent, and we take no position on the claims in either one.

Last checked 2026-08-07

Source King County voters’ pamphlet · as of 2026-08-07 · page 91 of the pamphlet

The pamphlet as published · archived copy, which is what we read

Who is funding each side

Political committees registered with the Public Disclosure Commission that named this proposition number when they formed.

No committee named this proposition number. We searched PDC committee filings for proposition 2 in 2025 and found none. That can mean no committee formed, or that one formed without naming the number — the filings do not distinguish the two.

Last checked 2026-08-07

What this county has asked before

Other city measures put to King County voters. Matched on county and measure kind — the results export carries no jurisdiction key, so these are comparable measures rather than provably the same body asking again.

Comparable earlier measures
Year	Measure	Yes	Result
2025	City of Bothell Proposition No. 1 — King County 2025	69.1%	passed
2025	City of Burien Proposition No. 1 — King County 2025	47.2%	passed
2025	City of Lake Forest Park Proposition No. 1 — King County 2025	49.8%	passed
2025	City of Mercer Island Proposition No. 1 — King County 2025	54.6%	passed
2025	City of Seattle Proposition No. 1 — King County 2025	80%	passed
2024	City of Des Moines Proposition No. 1 — King County 2024	40.2%	passed
2024	City of Seattle Proposition No. 1 — King County 2024	66.5%	passed
2023	City of Maple Valley Proposition No. 1 — King County 2023	65.7%	passed

Source WA Secretary of State certified election results · as of 2026-08-07 · 8 of 8 passed

What this page will not compute

Each of these is a number a reader might reasonably expect. None of them follow from the records we hold, so we do not publish them.

What it costs a household: Requires the levy rate per thousand of assessed value, which the results export does not carry. Stated above rather than estimated.
Whether the money decided it: We can show what each side raised and what the vote was. Connecting the two would be an inference about cause from two numbers, and campaign spending is not the only thing that moves a local levy.
Whether this is the same body asking again: Earlier measures are matched on county and kind, not on jurisdiction — the export has no jurisdiction key. A school district and its neighbour both appear as school measures in the same county.
What the measure would have done: The ballot title and the full text are not loaded. We hold the result, not the proposal.

Common questions

Did City of Seattle Proposition No. 2 — King County 2025 pass?: Yes, it passed. 71% voted yes on 268,513 votes cast.
Which Proposition 2 is this?: Proposition 2 on the 2025 ballot in King County, Washington. Several different measures can carry the same number on one county ballot, so the year, the county and the body asking are all needed to identify one.
Where do these results come from?: The Washington Secretary of State’s certified election results. We publish the certified canvass, not election-night returns.
Why is there no argument for or against here?: Washington publishes committee-written for and against statements for most local measures. We have not ingested them. Showing one side without the other would be worse than showing neither.

Cite this page

This is public-records reporting. Use it, and say where it came from.

“City of Seattle Proposition No. 2 — King County 2025,” WashingtonIndependents.org, data as of 2026-08-07, accessed 2026-08-08. https://washingtonindependents.org/measure/2025-king-prop-2-city-of-seattle-proposition-no-2/

Where this page comes from

Every figure above is read from a primary source and rebuilt on a schedule. Nothing here is modelled or inferred; where a source is silent the page says so rather than filling the gap.

WA Secretary of State certified election results: The vote totals, the yes share and the outcome. Certified canvass, not election-night returns.
Public Disclosure Commission committee registrations: Committees formed for or against the measure, matched by the proposition number they registered. Committees that did not name a number are not linked here.
Not loaded: Ballot title and full text, the voters’ pamphlet for and against statements, and the levy rate. Each is named where the page would otherwise use it.