Metro Transit was recently looking at service cuts of up to 20 percent over the next two years due to a drop in funding from the sales tax, King County Council member Larry Phillips said at the Nov. 11 Ballard District Council meeting.

But, Phillips had some positive news for the council and the neighborhood.

"The good news tonight is that we are on the verge of being able to fill that gap for the next two years so we don't lose any service," he said.

Phillips said last year's audit of Metro, the first in seven years, found many efficiencies to save funds that can then be put into maintaining service.

For example, the audit found $105 million used for bus replacement that can be reallocated to service funding without having a negative effect on getting aging buses off the road.

The two-year stay of service cuts is not permanent, Phillips said. The county needs to work together to limit the service cuts that will eventually need to be made, he said.

Phillips said nothing will preserve current Metro service levels as well as an economic turnaround.

"We're not out of the woods yet," he said.

There could be pubic transportation changes outside of Metro in Ballard in the coming years.

Craig Benjamin, a Ballard District Council member who worked on the campaign of Mayor-elect Mike McGinn, asked about the reality of McGinn's campaign promise of getting underway on bringing light rail service to the neighborhood within two years.

Phillips said King County would not be adverse to the extension of light rail to Ballard.

He said he would want to make sure adequate funding is in place to finish the project so as to avoid the fate of the monorail.

Bill Bryant, spokesperson for the Seattle Department of Transportation, said the department is planning to act quickly on a Ballard light rail plan as soon as McGinn takes office, though he is not sure if it can meet the two-year goal.

Phillips said a Ballard station for the Sounder commuter train is also on the radar but is most likely a long way off. The cost of adding a Ballard station is not justified by the projected ridership at this point, he said.