In the midst of the most dismal economic circumstances since the Great Depression, the King County Council adopted a balanced budget on Nov. 15 that made the tough choices necessary to protect public health and safety.
It was the culmination of work that crossed all branches of government and involved thousands of county employees willing to make tough sacrifices in difficult times.
Our budget leadership yeam was aware of what we faced for 2011: the economic crisis compounded our need to cut $60 million from our general fund, which supports critical day-to-day county services such as public safety and public health. We would have to make those cuts on the heels of $150 million in reductions to the general fund in 2009 and 2010.
As we met throughout this year with the County’s separately elected officials (sheriff, prosecutor and the presiding judges of the district and superior courts) as well as King County Executive Dow Constantine, we all knew there were no easy choices. King County cannot use dedicated funds, such as the fees you pay for sewer service or the transit fares that support Metro Transit, to aid the programs that are part of the general fund budget.
With citizen initiatives restricting the increase in property taxes to only 1 percent per year, and limited resources available to all county governments in Washington state, we knew our budget would require painful and difficult choices – choices that were reflected in the theme we adopted for our budget deliberations: “Balancing the Budget — Sharing the Pain.”
We adopted a budget that maintains the County’s core function—public safety—but to do that, we had to eliminate more than 300 positions in King County. The King County Sheriff will see her force reduced by 28 deputies. The County Prosecutor’s Office will be operating with 16 fewer attorneys and those remaining will see an increase in their caseloads. In Superior Court, District Court and Judicial Administration, 28 positions were eliminated, reducing probation services and shrinking the services provided by court clerks and court reporters.
Even with these cuts, protecting the public remains our paramount responsibility. We wanted to provide the County with the flexibility needed to respond quickly to emerging criminal justice and public safety needs in 2011. The adopted budget includes $1.5 million in funding that will be held in reserve specifically for emergent criminal justice needs.
Law enforcement is an important aspect of providing public safety in our communities. But public safety also includes providing services for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence, alternatives to incarceration programs to break the cycle of crime, and public health clinics to track epidemics and provide essential medical care to our most vulnerable. That is the true meaning of public safety — and all of these services remain in our 2011 budget.
These were difficult choices, but because of the action of County employees, the choices we made and the cuts we adopted did not become draconian. Last summer, Constantine announced he would encourage the bargaining units that represent the majority of the County employees to give up negotiated Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs) to help the County in its budget crisis.
These employees didn’t have to give up raises that by contract they were entitled to, but more than 90 percent of them did. Their sacrifice preserved $23.5 million in county services for 2011. It allowed for the restoration of eight deputy prosecuting attorneys, as well as public defenders, corrections officers, family court services and many others.
Their sacrifice also allowed us to provide limited funding to programs assisting survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. And we were able to maintain Step Up, a program that assists families impacted by juvenile domestic violence, which scores of people came to support at the five public hearings we held on the budget.
We have met the fiscal challenge for 2011, but King County’s budget landscape is still bleak. The preliminary estimate is that with the continued decline in sales tax revenue, a primary funding mechanism for the general fund, we are facing a $20 million deficit for 2012. The work on cutting the deficit will start with our commitment to meeting the goals of the Countywide Strategic Plan.
One goal is to increase efficiencies throughout King County government to create an annual savings. We also will continue to work with the State Legislature to find strategic solutions that will give King County, and other counties in Washington, long-term financial stability.
Just as many individuals and families everywhere are doing with their own household budgets, we have gone through our budget line-by-line to cut spending in the most responsible way possible. Given the fiscal challenges we are facing, this budget does all it can to protect public safety, maintain the quality of life in our communities, and protect our most vulnerable residents.
Councilmembers Julia Patterson, Kathy Lambert and Larry Gossett served as the budget leadership team for the Metropolitan King County Council.
