Proposed King County budget cuts put public at risk, officials warn

King County's elected sheriff, prosecutor and judges warn that across-the-board budget cuts tentatively proposed by the county budget office put public safety at risk and represent a failure to set priorities.

In interviews and in letters to County Executive Ron Sims, the officials complain the budget office failed to ask them about possible consequences of the 11 percent spending cuts that may be ordered for all departments.

Budget Director Bob Cowan, citing a possible $50 million shortfall in the 2010 general fund, told department heads and elected officials in a March 20 letter to plan for that level of cuts as part of a "worst-case planning effort."

Sheriff Sue Rahr wrote Sims that such deep cuts would mean more layoffs of deputies "and the continued evisceration of entire functions in the Sheriff's Office. ... Ultimately, this budget represents the abdication of a core function of government — ensuring the safety and health of the public."

Rahr said in an interview that, while she hasn't determined precisely what cuts her department would have to make, she would likely have to eliminate helicopter, marine, SWAT and K-9 units.

Her first priority, Rahr said, will be to keep deputies on the street to respond to emergency calls.

After a similar debate over this year's budget, deep cuts also eliminated the jobs of 20 prosecutors and seven support staffers and led Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg to file most routine felony drug and theft cases as misdemeanors.

The county executive is required to deliver a proposed budget to the Metropolitan King County Council in September, and the council is expected to adopt a budget in November.

Sims' chief of staff, Kurt Triplett, said his boss plans to solicit the views of the sheriff, the prosecutor and judges on spending priorities. "The preliminary target reductions are the beginning of the conversation," Triplett said. "We couldn't be more clear that these are completely preliminary; they're for worst-case planning scenarios, they're not budget decisions."

Triplett said there will be adequate funds for Mental Health Court and Drug Court and some other endangered programs if the Legislature passes a bill giving the county more leeway in how it spends proceeds from a sales tax intended to help people with mental illnesses or drug and alcohol addictions.

The budget shortfall could also be narrowed if the Legislature gives the county authority to impose a utility tax outside cities.

But Metropolitan King County Council Chairman Dow Constantine said a worsening economy could widen the budget gap to $60 million. "Nobody at the state or local level knows really where the bottom is in terms of sales-tax receipts," he said.

Superior Court Presiding Judge Bruce Hilyer called a possible 11 percent cut in funding for the courts "unacceptable," saying that would shut down Drug Court and Family Court Services and would eliminate jobs of probation officers who supervise juvenile offenders.

"It goes to the ability of the court to process its cases," Hilyer said in an interview. "We are not going to do that. We are not going to propose a budget that doesn't allow us to perform our essential constitutional service. An 11 percent budget cut would cross that line."

District Court Chief Presiding Judge Barbara Linde told Sims spending cuts of that magnitude would completely eliminate probation, Mental Health Court and a driver's re-licensing program, resulting in more spending to take unlicensed drivers to court and then to jail.

Prosecutor Satterberg said cutting spending by 11 percent could eliminate the jobs of 34 attorneys.

"You can't continue to shrink everything across the board," Satterberg said in an interview. "The result of that is that you do everything poorly. I would rather do a few things well than everything poorly."

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