In August 2023, 71 percent of King County voters approved the King County Veterans, Seniors and Human Services Levy, the highest approval rating it has received on the four occasions it’s come up to a vote in its history.

Last week, the Auburn City Council accepted $711,698 in grant monies from the levy, which means local veterans and patrons of the Auburn Senior Activities Center can expect to see a portion of that money put to work for the senior center starting this month.

The program expenditures for the City of Auburn in 2024 include continued funding for a full-time resource navigator, said Daryl Faber, director of Auburn Parks, Arts and Recreation. Faber said this is “to help people navigate a complex human services system, such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, housing — all the things that … have to be done online, which is complicated for seniors and many veterans.”

“Also, resource navigators can help you with the paperwork, especially if you’re from another country, to get you assimilated to the systems that make your life easier,” Faber added.

The grant will continue existing funding for a full-time administrative assistant and a quarter time clerical position, all positions listed above, for another three years out of the Auburn Senior Activities Center.

The levy provides “transformational funding” for competitively-selected senior centers to help them become welcoming, buzzing hubs of senior activities. The levy funding will be doing its thing in Auburn between this year and 2026.

For services provided in 2024, the City of Auburn should receive $139,549; from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2025, it will receive $279.097; and from Jan. 1., 2026 – to Dec 31, 2026, it will receive $293,052 in grant funding.

City officials said they expect the grant to fully cover the cost of the city’s portion of the program.

Passed by voters in 2023, the levy authorizes an additional six-year property tax levy for collection beginning in 2024 at $0.10 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, with the 2024 levy amount being the base for calculating annual increases by 3.5% in 2025-2029.

Since 2006, the levy has funded a wide range of programs that connect veterans, military service members and their families, and individuals and families in need with affordable housing, employment, behavioral health treatment, and other services.