All politics is local.

Former Speaker Tip O'Neill

U.S. House of Representatives

Congratulations are due the Highline Historical Society, which did quite well when the 2007 King County budget was adopted last month.

Thanks to the efforts of Highline's two county council representatives, Democrats Julia Patterson of SeaTac and Dow Constantine of West Seattle, $450,000 was earmarked for a new historical museum in Burien.

As long as lawmakers were handing out money anyway, it would have been foolish for the historical society not to ask for some.

This practice, of course, is nothing new. It's done year after year, decade after decade, at the local level and in Olympia as well as in the other Washington.

But that doesn't justify taking money from taxpayers in one state or community to pay for local projects in another.

Why should Highline residents see their county taxes pay for local amenities in Shoreline or Kirkland, Auburn or Enumclaw?

And why should taxpayers in those communities pay for a local facility in Highline?

The fact is, they shouldn't.

When this kind of money remains in the public treasury to be passed around, the people are overtaxed.

There are, of course, instances in which taxing Peter to pay Paul has merit.

Public safety, road systems, and parks and trails are legitimate uses of county revenue for the common good.

Beyond funding essential programs, however, the public interest would be served better by reducing taxes than by redistributing tax revenues.

Then give community residents the option to tax themselves more if they want public facilities or programs that will benefit them locally.

Ironically, just a week after the new budget was adopted, the King County Journal reported that next November voters will be asked to continue the world-renowned, life-saving Medic I program.

An Emergency Medical Services/Medic I levy to raise $605 million over six years would cost homeowners $90 on a $300,000 home annually.

That's not much-until all the other property taxes King County residents have to pay are added on.

The Medic I levy likely will be voted on at the same time county residents vote on billions of dollars in taxes for regional roads, bridges and transit.

When extra tax dollars are found in county and state budgets, they should be spent on essential public services like Medic I-or refunded to overburdened taxpayers -rather than handed out to win favor with local voters.

Our priorities will remain misaligned until voters insist that their elected representatives budget and spend with responsible restraint.

Speaking of public spending, Washington residents may have dodged paying billions of tax dollars in a Peter-to-Paul shuffle to finance Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels's underwater folly.

A new state Department of Transportation report issued last week indicates that the Alaskan Way Viaduct can be retrofitted to withstand an earthquake rather than being replaced by another above-ground structure-or by the mayor's proposed Elliott Bay tunnel.

This should help Gov. Christine Gregoire-who has Seattle voters to thank for her election in 2004-withstand political pressure from Mr. Nickels and, backed my a significant number of Democratic state senators, upgrade the viaduct while keeping traffic moving and saving taxpayers billions.

Politics doesn't get much more local than a city council, and a handful of local business people thumbed their noses at Burien lawmakers in a recent letter to the Times/News.

Written by John Roberts, president, and the executive board of Discover Burien, their statement was nothing more than a pathetic whimper about what they call a perceived conflict of interest involving the executive director of that non-profit organization.

The board members, who revealed themselves to be fellow-travelers rather than community leaders, attempted to hide behind the wording of Discover Burien's contract with the city, which grants the organization some $80,000 a year.

A glaring omission from their letter-and from their actions during this year-is any reference to reasonable expectations, business ethics or public trust.

Voters and business owners who pay taxes to subsidize Discover Burien and the ongoing conflict of interest can only hope the city council now will do what's right.

This means holding the organization and its executive director accountable to a higher ethical standard based on principles that should have been apparent and followed-even in the absence of fine print on a contract.

The views of Ralph Nichols are his own, and do not necessarily reflect those of Robinson Newspapers. He can be reached at newsdesk@robinsonnews.com or 206-388-1857.