King County needs the courage to reprioritize government services

KING County government employs more than 12,000 people and provides important regional and local services to about 1.9 million citizens. The county has fallen on hard financial times over the past few years as sales- and property-tax revenues have declined in a stagnating economy. Without a significant change in our taxing and spending structure, the county will continue to make dangerous cuts to the services our citizens need most.

Our county leaders must have the courage to prioritize our limited revenue sources and modify a system that is fundamentally broken if we are to avoid further cuts to our criminal-justice system in the years ahead.

Earlier this month, in a divided vote of the Metropolitan King County Council, the county laid off 28 sheriff's deputies and 12 prosecutors and made troubling cuts to our Superior Court and District Court system. Just $5 million would have significantly mitigated these cuts. In the same week, the county executive announced plans to purchase a gravel pit on Maury Island for $19.1 million in order to convert it into a new park.

This choice seemed a little odd to many in King County. According to Sheriff Sue Rahr's office, these new cuts leave the 340,000 residents in unincorporated King County with some of the lowest police service anywhere in the state of Washington. Isn't the most basic responsibility of local government to keep the public safe? Why would King County purchase yet another park when we are making such serious cuts to our criminal-justice system?

The answer to this dilemma is more complicated than it might first seem. King County's overall budget is $5.1 billion, with about $620 million of that going into the county's general fund. By state law, our criminal-justice system is funded principally out of the general fund, which has been cut by nearly $200 million over the past three years.

The remaining $4.4 billion in the county's overall budget goes to fund a variety of services such as transit, roads, health care, Medic One, purchasing open space, and maintaining and growing our parks system, among many others. As a general rule, these funds, which have actually grown in recent years, cannot be used to supplement our county's emaciated general fund.

However, there is one way to move money between these two funds and it is as simple as placing a ballot measure before the people. This would provide a basic level of funding for our criminal-justice system and we can do it without raising taxes.

Here is how it would work: King County government can decide to reduce small portions of the levies in the county's overall budget and give a "hair cut" to a few of the many funds within it. Then the people can approve, by a vote, to allow King County to use its general fund levy authority to increase by the precise amount of that "hair cut." This would operate to move a relatively small amount of money from the county's overall budget and allow it to go to our struggling criminal-justice system. It also would not increase taxes.

I propose that a bipartisan "Priority Commission" study the options that might exist for our county. Members of the impacted constituencies would serve on the commission, which would make recommendations for the County Council to consider.

King County's current path is unsustainable as we face another shortfall of at least $20 million next year. We must prioritize our most important services first. Those services that aren't near the top of the list might have to see a slight reduction in funding until our economy recovers.

These choices will not be easy, but they must be made. Through the operation of the Priority Commission, the will of the County Council and a vote of the people, we can assure that those services most important to our community are funded at a reasonable level.