In 1992 the Office of Long-Range Planning and Office of Strategic Human Services Planning were combined to create the new Planning Department, marking the first point since 1969 that planning and policy development for the City fell outside the direct control of the Executive Department. In addition to cultivating policy on land use, transportation, housing, the environment, human services, and urban design, the Planning Department's stated mission included the pursuit of local/regional planning collaboration as well as the evaluation of city policies for compliance with Washington's Growth Management Act and Seattle's Comprehensive Plan Framework Policies. The department was segmented into four divisions: Comprehensive Planning, Urban Research, Strategic and Special Projects, and Administrative.

In 1995 the Office of Management and Planning (OMP) was created by bringing together the Office of Management and Budget and Planning Department. OMP was the lead office within the Executive Department for community planning, budgeting, capital infrastructure analysis, forecasting, policy and economic analysis, and management.

In early 1998, the Mayor divided the OMP and formed a new Strategic Planning Office (SPO) for policy planning in the Executive Department. The City's budget function was reorganized in the newly-formed City Budget Office (CBO), located in the Executive Services Department.