Council Roundup: Updates provided on Affordable Housing progress and the Multifamily Tax Exemption Program

Published October 24 2025

Plus, Parks & Community Services Reaccreditation

At its meeting Tuesday the City Council received a presentation on the progress of the 2025 Affordable Housing Strategy update. Council launched this update in November 2024 and established a target of building or preserving 5,700 affordable units over the next decade to guide the development and implementation of the strategy update.

Building on established policy within the city's Comprehensive Plan, the update also focuses on implementing new and expanded housing opportunities over the next seven years. This includes acquisition and preservation strategies to both expand and quickly shore up affordable housing in the city.

Hands-on and innovative community engagement has been conducted over the last year, reaching 50 organizations and over 450 community members. This included presenting an Affordable Housing Better Cities Film Festival, hosting a housing resource fair and launching a pilot Community Facilitator Program.

The draft Affordable Housing Strategy will be presented to Council in January 2026.

Additional information on the presentation is available in the meeting materials.

Update on Multifamily Tax Exemption Program

The Council also received a presentation on the Multi-Family Tax Exemption (MFTE) program, which incentivizes developers for including affordable housing within new multi-family residential developments by providing a temporary reduction in property taxes.

In Bellevue, the current program generally requires developers to reserve 20% of units for households earning up to 80% of the Area Median Income for 12 years. Since its initial adoption in 2015, the program has provided exemptions to 11 projects, creating a total of 472 new units of affordable rental housing.

The latest MFTE program update is focused on aligning with new land use code updates in the Wilburton transit-oriented development area and expanding program options, such as an 8-year program and 20-year homeownership program. These updates will expand the scope of multi-family tax exemption opportunities and provide additional incentives for producing affordable housing throughout the city, with a focus on the Wilburton transit-oriented development area.

This week's update to council was the first of two planned for the Multi-Family Tax Exemption program. Staff plans to return in early December with further program updates in response to feedback received from Council.

Additional information about the council presentation on the program is in the meeting materials.

Parks & Community Services Reaccreditation

The city manager gave an update on Bellevue Parks & Community Services Department's recent reaccreditation by the Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA) and the National Recreation and Parks Association (NRPA). The department initially obtained CAPRA accreditation in 2005, and has since maintained reaccreditation in 2010, 2015, 2020, and 2025.

National accreditation is an extensive, multi-year process that consists of an application, self-assessment report, site visit and final assessment by CAPRA. The accreditation process measures Bellevue's quality of operation, management and service to the community.

This spring, a team of reviewers from across the country awarded the department a perfect score of 154 out of 154 on rigorous standards related to the management and administration of lands, facilities, resources, programs, safety and services.

The full presentation and discussion is available on Bellevue Television.