King County to Hold Public Hearings on Proposed 2012 Budget

Metropolitan King County Council issued a press release Sept. 27, saying that it is seeking creative ways to deal with a projected $20 million shortfall in its 2012 budget.

King County Executive Dow Constantine proposed a balanced budget that would include eliminating dozens of county vehicles and consolidating some county office spaces as well as consolidating Eastside sheriffs operations into a new facility in Sammamish, and eliminating 30 positions from its road services department.

The council plans to solicit comments at public hearings scheduled in October, including one in Issaquah and one in Kent.

Starting Thursday, October 13, the Budget Leadership Team will host three evening public hearings on the 2012 Executive Proposed Budget: 

• Thursday, Oct. 13 – Pacific Cascade Middle School, 24635 SE Issaquah Fall City Rd, Issaquah
• Wednesday, Oct. 19 – Maleng Regional Justice Center,  Courtroom 3F, 401 Fourth Avenue North, Kent
• Tuesday, Oct. 25 – King County Courthouse, County Council Chambers, 10th Floor, 516 Third Avenue, Seattle

All of the meetings will begin at 6:30 p.m. 

After budget cuts of $25 million in 2008, $93 million in 2009, $56 million in 2010 and $59 million in 2011, King County has been facing a $20 million deficit in its General Fund budget in 2012. King County Executive Dow Constantine proposed a $5.3 billion budget that includes no cuts to the $648 million General Fund budget, more than three-quarters of which is targeted for law, justice and public safety services. The release noted that the council will review the Executive Budget Proposal in three separate panels: 

• Councilmember Kathy Lambert will serve as Vice Chair of the Budget Leadership Team and direct the Public Health and Safety Panel, which will assess the Executive’s proposed budgets for law, justice and public safety agencies along with the departments of Community & Health Services and Public Health.

• Councilmember Joe McDermott will lead the Physical Environment Panel, which will review services provided by the Departments of Natural Resources & Parks and Transportation.

• Council Vice Chair Jane Hague will serve as Chair of the General Government Panel, which will be responsible for General Fund budgets such as Assessments and Elections, and the County’s internal service funds like Facilities Management, Human Resources and Finance

 “Many people in King County are facing a tough economic reality right now,” said Hague.  “As Chair of the General Government Panel, I look forward to examining how we can continue to reform King County internally. I hope to expand on the success we’ve had recently in reducing costs and eliminating waste.”  

The panels will begin their review of the Executive Proposed Budget on Tuesday, Oct. 4. All members of the County Council serve on the Budget Committee during the annual review and adoption of the County budget. Traditionally, the Council adopts the County budget the Monday before Thanksgiving. 

Summary points of Constantine's proposal as described in the news release are as follows:

EFFICIENCIES: The most prominent efficiency in the 2012 proposed budget is the dramatic drop in the cost of providing employee health care – $61 million below budget over two years, including $38 million in 2012. By helping employees improve their health, the County’s nationally-recognized Healthy IncentivesSM program is containing costs beyond expectations. The savings preserved are the equivalent of 12 Sheriff’s deputies, or seven deputy prosecutors, or 20 public health nurses – with comparable services preserved in each and every department.

Other efficiencies reflected in the 2012 budget include:

• Identification of 54 county vehicles that could be eliminated, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars.
• An office consolidation plan that will save $2 million a year by making smarter use of office space – vacating the entire Blackriver Building in Renton, and mothballing five floors of the Yesler Building.
• Consolidation of computer servers from across all departments into a single County data center in Tukwila, saving $300,000 a year.
• Consolidation of the Sheriff’s Eastside precincts into a new facility in Sammamish City Hall, increasing patrol time on the streets and saving $400,000 a year. 
• $250,000 a year by moving the White Center Public Health Center to the business district in Greenbridge, providing better service to patients. 
• Upgrading the heating and cooling systems in the King County Courthouse and King County Jail to save $750,000 a year in energy, cut greenhouse gas emissions by 3,000 tons, and save 7-million gallons of water per year.

INVESTMENTS: With savings from new efficiencies, the Executive’s budget makes investments that generate even more savings in the future. As he pledged in his Blueprint for Reform, the Executive called for the discipline to set aside savings by adding $2.7 million to the County’s rainy day funds.

At a time when the debt of even the federal government is downgraded, this county said this strategy would raise the County’s General Fund reserves above the 6 percent minimum to help ensure the County retains its AAA bond rating, which saves ratepayers on the cost of borrowed money for major capital projects.

Constantine also proposed setting aside $9.1 million in other reserves to buffer against uncertainty in future sales tax revenues.

With $1 million from efficiency savings, the Executive’s budget proposes creation of a one-time fund for human services to invest in nonprofit partners who provide food for the needy, support for the homeless, and tools for diverse communities still struggling with recession. The competitive pool of funds would provide more than 40 grants, under $25,000 each, serving communities throughout the county, to be used for capital improvement, technology, or capacity building. 

The budget proposal allocates proceeds from the just-completed $10 million sale of the Kingdome North Lot to help honor long-standing commitments for affordable housing and make other one-time investments. 

TRANSFORMATION OF BUSINESS PRACTICES: In partnership with The Boeing Company and Group Health, the Executive Proposed Budget seeks to create more value for customers with fewer resources by expanding a successful pilot project in the business-world practice of LEAN. The LEAN program aims to redesign obsolete and cumbersome business practices through continuous improvement and employee engagement. In two successful pilots:

• License tabs renewed by mail that used to take 3 weeks to process are now being mailed back to drivers in less than five days.
• Taxi and limousine drivers who have been waiting up to 60 days to receive their license renewals should by next month receive them in under 10 days.

The Executive’s budget also calls for piloting a product-based budget in six agencies that makes it more apparent to the public what an agency produces and what they get for their money. Product-based budgeting looks at the specific services an agency provides as products that can be measured as, for example, the quality, quantity, and the cost per unit of a trip on an Access van, the issuance of a marriage license or building permit, or the response to a 9-1-1 call. The Executive today set a goal of moving the entire government to product-based budgeting within three years.

For the first time, the Executive Proposed Budget is aligned with the King County Strategic Plan, integrating Equity and Social Justice into every aspect of policy and operations.

TRANSIT AND ROADS: Efficiencies alone cannot close shortfalls in the dedicated funds for Transit and Road Services.

Metro Transit created efficiencies that save $143 million a year, but the collapse of the sales taxes that support Metro would have meant gutting 17 percent of bus service. The remedy enacted by the County Council in the two-year Congestion Reduction Charge saves Metro bus service in this budget and the next, but long-term reform of transit financing still resides with the state Legislature.

Inequities in revenues for the Road Levy have compelled the layoff of 81 road workers and other staff in the Road Services Division since the first of the year. The success of growth management and urban annexations has left only 250,000 residents of the unincorporated areas paying into the Road Levy for maintenance of the 1,600 miles of County roads used by 2 million county residents and those driving in from other counties. Road Levy revenues have fallen more than one-third over the past three years. As a consequence, the 2012 budget must propose the reduction of another 30 positions from Road Services in order to live within these sharply reduced revenues.

STATE BUDGET IMPACTS: The state revenue shortfall of another $1.4 Billion will likely lead to more cuts in state support for the County’s public health and human service funds. While such cuts have the potential to be devastating for the county’s neediest residents, without knowing where they may come the Executive Proposed Budget does not anticipate them.

Day-after coverage of the public hearings will be available both online and on King County TV, seen on Comcast and Broadstripe Cable Channel 22. You can also sign up to follow the deliberations through the Council’s 2012 Budget web page, Facebook and Twitter.   Follow the Council’s deliberations through Twitter, Facebook and by visiting the King County Council Budget Web site at: 

www.kingcounty.gov/council/budget.aspx
Watch all Council proceedings held in chambers LIVE on King County TVon Comcast and Broadstripe Cable on channel 22, or online at:
www.kingcounty.gov/KCTV