Bellevue City Council Meeting - October 6, 2026

Bellevue City Council study and regular meeting, October 6, 2026. The main spending discussion concerned the preliminary 2027–28 transportation capital plan and three 10-year investment scenarios: a roughly $300 million baseline, about $400 million with a proposed 0.1% sales-tax increase, and an additional roughly $20 million for neighborhood mobility under a proposed $20 vehicle-registration fee. Staff described projects including sidewalks, safe routes to school, intersection improvements, Spring Boulevard, and Westlake Sammamish Parkway. The Grand Connection Crossing was estimated at approximately $265 million, with about $45 million in prior city commitments, $2.5 million in partner funding, and an anticipated $10 million grant gap. Council discussed construction-cost escalation, project timing, neighborhood safety, funding trade-offs, and potential uses for up to $10 million in general-fund money freed under some scenarios; no transportation tax or fee was approved at this meeting.

Council voted 6–1 to direct staff to prepare an ordinance for a future meeting to assume the Bellevue Transportation Benefit District, an administrative governance step that does not authorize new revenue. Other agenda items included proclamations, informational reports on Bellevue Youth Theater and Experience Bellevue, and initial consideration of two site-specific rezones; no procurement awards, vendor selections, or contract approvals were identified. The consent calendar was approved, but the transcript did not specify its contents.