What changed in Bellevue.
Every story the Bellevue Dispatch has run, newest first. Each links the public record it came from.
The budget now carries a 0.1% transportation sales tax
On Nov. 3, council voted 5–1 for a hybrid option that uses the Transportation Benefit District for a 0.1%, 10-year sales tax, with no car-tab fee increase.
$15 million is set aside to move Fire Station 6
Council unanimously designated $15 million in long-range planning reserves to buy land for a new site for the aging station.
Free naturalist training opens for the Class of 2027
Classes run Jan. 26 to April 29, Tuesday and Thursday evenings 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., with some Saturday field trips.
BEACON, the city's equity and outreach advisory network, is adding members
It advises the city on making programs and services easier to reach.
get ready for the first windstorm
Windstorm season is the time to set this up, before the lights go out.
The final budget hearing drew nearly 40 speakers
Council closed the public hearing on the 2027–2028 operating budget and the 2027–2032 capital plan on Tuesday, October 27, with 63 written comments on file.
146 apartments on 118th Avenue SE got design approval
The October 28 permit bulletin lists a decision of approval with conditions for a seven-story apartment building at 995 118th Avenue SE, on the site of a partly built hotel in West Bellevue.
A community open house on the Diversity Advantage Plan 2035 is Nov. 19
The city will showcase progress on the plan at a community open house, Thursday, Nov. 19, 6 to 8 p.m., at City Hall, 450 110th Avenue NE. Source
clear the storm drains by the curb
Fall leaves can block the storm drains next to your curb.
Both rezones passed; parking comes back for a final vote
On October 20, council approved the EverGlen Village and Bellewood Townhomes rezones.
The budget's last public hearing
The final hearing on the 2027–2028 budget was on Tuesday's agenda, with adoption expected in November.
What Bellevue will ask Olympia for
The draft 2027 state agenda opposes changes to the business and occupation tax that would cut into local B&O, backs the I-405 Renton to Bellevue project, and asks for $280,000 for a kitchen at…
Ballots are due Tuesday
Election Day is November 3, and drop boxes close at 8 p.m.
A seat on the Human Services Commission is open
The commission advises council on human services planning and funding.
drain the hoses before the first freeze
Bellevue Utilities asks owners to protect their own pipes.
Permits would cost more in 2027
Staff brought the proposed development fees to Tuesday's budget session.
Parking minimums are shrinking, and council picks how far
State law requires Bellevue to cut many minimum parking requirements by January 27, 2027.
Last week's votes
Council adopted the children and family services sales tax on October 13, effective January 1.
Eastrail's last southern gap is in for permits
King County applied to build 1.7 miles across I-90, reusing the steel bridge over 14 freeway lanes and the wooden trestle over 32nd Street.
Help pick the backyard cottage plans
The city will offer up to 10 pre-approved designs for backyard cottages and cottage homes, at a set price.
test the alarms when the clocks change
Clocks fall back Sunday, November 1.
Your water, sewer and storm bill would rise 8.5% next year and 8.6% in 2028
Those are the rates the city's Environmental Services Commission recommended, and staff presented them at Tuesday's budget session.
The transportation tax district moves onto council's own agenda, with no tax attached yet
Council voted 6–1 on October 6 to take over the Transportation Benefit District directly, and the ordinance was on Tuesday's consent calendar.
A county sales tax starts in January. The question is whether Bellevue keeps its share
King County passed a 0.01% tax for children and family services on October 6, one cent on $100.
One Planning Commission seat is open
It is a four-year volunteer term for a Bellevue resident, with meetings on the second and fourth Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m.
The parks plan is being rewritten
The Parks and Open Space System Plan guides land purchases, trails and future park levies.
rake out the storm drain before the rain does
Bellevue has more than 20,000 storm drains, and in October, leaves are what block them.
Council has the ten-year street list, and a sales tax and car-tab fee could pay for more of it
At Tuesday's budget session, staff laid out three scenarios for 2027–2036 transportation projects.
Fourteen speed cameras by year-end
Council has authorized 14 cameras, and the city says all of them will be in place by the end of 2026.
Bellevue residents aged 15 to 24 can get up to $5,000 for a climate project
Teams of at least two people apply, the work has to happen in Bellevue, and it has to be finished by March 30, 2027.
The Network on Aging has open seats
Members serve three-year terms and give 6 to 12 hours a month.
The 2 Line has a new stop
Pinehurst Station, at 130th Street and 5th Avenue NE in North Seattle, opened September 30, five years ahead of its original schedule.
know the tree rules before the windstorms
In Bellevue, a significant tree is at least 6 inches across, measured 4.5 feet above the ground, and a landmark tree is at least 24 inches.
The budget math, in one number: about sixteen dollars
Council spent September 22 on the revenue side of the preliminary 2027–2028 budget and the 2027–2032 capital plan.
The Spring District's north blocks would become housing instead of offices
Wright Runstad has applied to amend the Spring District master plan: the blocks north of the light rail line switch from office to residential and residential-with-retail, with below-grade parking, a…
Bellevue is planning its largest reservoir
The Meydenbauer South Reservoir is meant to carry growth and firefighting capacity across western Bellevue.
Four crosswalks got painted, and the city is asking whether they work
Nikita Ares and Kenji Stoll designed two each: 164th Avenue NE at NE 24th Street, 124th Avenue NE at NE 8th Street, 132nd Avenue NE at Bel-Red Road, and 106th Avenue NE at NE 10th Street.
The school-district flu and COVID clinics are open to everyone
Appointments required, ID and insurance card in hand: Chinook Middle School October 6, Bellevue High October 8, Big Picture School October 15, Sammamish High October 16, Tillicum Middle School…
the furnace, and the $6,000 sitting next to it
The first genuinely cold week is usually the one that finds the problem, and the week everyone calls at once.
The next two-year budget is a $2.3 billion document, and council has started working through it
City Manager Diane Carlson introduced the preliminary 2027–2028 operating budget on September 15: balanced across all funds, with a 1% increase in the portion of property tax the city collects.
How much parking a new building must include is still unsettled
State law now bars the city from requiring parking for homes under 2,000 square feet, affordable housing, senior housing, childcare centers and ground-floor commercial in mixed-use buildings.
The Transit Center switches sides in October
Work on the closed east bays wraps and construction moves to the west half, running through January 2027.
If a remodel or an ADU is on your list, October 17 is the day to ask questions
The Residential Permitting Expo runs 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at City Hall: the permit process, MyBuildingPermit.com, tree code rules, inspections, and a session on the new pre-approved plans program for…
The city will pay you $100 to test a crosswalk app
Bellevue, the University of Washington and Applied Information are testing an app that alerts drivers at midblock crosswalks.
the property-tax date moved this year
King County's second-half property tax is due October 31 — except October 31 lands on a Saturday in 2026, and the county's rule moves a deadline falling on a weekend or county holiday to the next…
Your local street is now a 20 mph street, or will be by year-end
Bellevue is cutting the limit on local streets from 25 to 20.
The 2027–2028 city budget is out; the first hearing is Tuesday
Council takes comment September 15 on the preliminary budget released last week, and will weigh a Transportation Benefit District to fund the transportation backlog; an information session follows…
Half the Bellevue Transit Center is a construction site through January
Sound Transit is rebuilding the bays for the coming Stride bus rapid transit lines: east half first, west half from October, so bay assignments keep moving.
Bellevue schools opened the year on stable footing
Grades 1–12 started September 2, kindergarten September 8.
Police drones start flying to 911 calls this fall
Council approved funding September 8 for a one-year Drone as First Responder pilot: two trained patrol officers launch an aircraft toward a call while units are en route, with a public dashboard…
gutter and roof-moss month
September is the window.
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