Citing the recession and the need for public safety funding Seattle City Councilmembers Richard Conlin and Jean Godden responded to the King County Council's vote to put a sales tax increase to a vote in November.

Seattle City Council statement on King County's sales tax measure:
Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin and Councilmember Jean Godden, chair of Finance and Budget committee today responded to King County Council's 5-4 vote to put 0.2 percent sales tax measure on the November ballot.

"We are all navigating rough waters because of the continuing recessionary impacts on resources for essential public services. While raising taxes is never an easy action to take, we understand the need for King County Council to take this difficult step to provide much needed revenue for public safety," said Council President Richard Conlin.

"There are no easy solutions, and the county is still forced to close their funding gap with this tax increase," said Councilmember Jean Godden. "Sadly, we need to rely on these short-term tax fixes until we pull out of this recession. As a city, we too will be forced to balance our budget by providing for urgent needs while reducing costs and identifying additional revenues."