Municipal League report: Important steps in cost-cutting taken by King County

King County has taken "several important steps" in cutting costs, making government more efficient and improving customer service during County Executive Dow Constantine's first year in office, the Municipal League of King County says in a report to be released Thursday.

But the league's King County Government Reform Study Committee said it remains unknown whether "the new thinking will permeate all parts" of the county and whether Constantine will achieve his goal of reducing the cost of government by 3 percent a year through efficiencies.

The committee found he made progress by hiring "change leaders," strengthening relationships with labor, shaking up the Department of Development and Environmental Services (DDES), developing a strategy for allocating Metro Transit bus service, working with cities on jail space and animal control, improving employee training and beginning to replace outmoded business-computer systems.

Deputy County Executive Fred Jarrett was identified as "the key architect" of the reform agenda laid out by Constantine when he took office in November 2009.

Under the new DDES director, John Starbard, applicants for building and land-use permits are billed on the basis of fixed fees rather than by the hour for most jobs. But Vanessa Lund, co-chair of the study committee, said it may be more difficult to continue the new practice when construction picks up again.

Lund said Constantine has been "a little bit more demanding" than his predecessors — "more challenging, questioning why we're doing things a certain way and if there's a way to get the job done where we're both happy with the results."

If the county's financial condition improves and "this shared sense of need and crisis" is lost, it could become more difficult for Constantine to make government more efficient, Lund said. The report will be posted Thursday at www.munileague.org.

Keith Ervin: 206-464-2105 or kervin@seattletimes.com