Deficit should never have happened

By Larry Phillips

In response to the King County Executive's call for an 8.6 percent across-the-board budget cut for all county agencies, the chair of the County Council's 2009 Budget Review and Adoption Committee asserted that the county's projected $68 million budget deficit for next year could have been avoided with better planning.

This should never have happened - we have known since 2001 that King County was facing a formula for disaster with shrinking revenues and growing costs. Rather than following through with strategies to stabilize costs and shore up revenues, the Executive declared in 2005 that the era of big budget deficits was over. That pronouncement has jeopardized public safety funding in King County.

A string of voter-approved statewide initiatives has squeezed King County's revenue authority in recent years. Property tax revenue is capped at an increase of 1 percent annually, regardless of inflation or increases in the cost of providing the same level of services. This resulted in annual budget deficits that compelled the county, under (my) guidance, to cut $137 million from (the) budget between 2002 and 2005.

The council has led efforts to balance the budget by cutting services, emphasizing treatment over detention in the criminal justice system, asking voters for dedicated funding for parks and human services, and providing greater fiscal oversight of capital projects.

The council has also worked to improve service levels in areas of county government struggling for adequate resources such as elections, the Sheriff's Office, and animal control.

In delivering his 2006 budget to the council on Oct. 17, 2005, the (County Executive Ron Sims) declared, "This is a good day. We are here to celebrate. Today I am proud to tell you that King County has completed a remarkable financial turnaround that any corporation would envy. My friends, the era of deficits is over!"

As Chair of the 2009 Annual Budget Committee, I began working in January of this year with King County's elected sheriff, judges, and prosecutor to discuss the looming public safety crisis that further budget cuts would create. Criminal justice services make up 71 percent of King County's general fund expenditures.

The citizens of King County have shown a willingness to step up and protect the services important to them such as regional parks, human services, and emergency medical services. What could be more pressing and basic than ensuring our communities are safe by adequately funding our criminal justice and public health systems?

Larry Phillips is a King County Metropolitan Council member and annual budget chair. He may be reached at 296.1004 or larry.phillips@kingcounty.gov