Clyde Hill, an affluent town near Seattle where the average home is worth around $4.3 million, is warning that it could run out of money and go bankrupt within roughly four years. Officials and fiscal experts say a substantial rise in property taxes is the only realistic way to balance the books, making the case notable as an example of a wealthy community facing insolvency despite its high property values.

The town of about 3,100 residents has been incorporated for 73 years, and administrators blame a "structural imbalance" in how property tax revenue works rather than overspending — specifically Washington state's one percent cap on annual property tax growth. A former fiscal committee member likened the trajectory to a "school bus going over a cliff", warning cash could be exhausted between 2029 and 2030. In response, the city's Financial Stability Task Force is recommending a levy increase to be put to voters in November, proposing a rate of $0.50 in 2027 with a three percent annual rise through to 2036.