November 2010

Dear Neighbor,

After nearly two months of meetings, hundreds of public testimony and many difficult decisions, the Council this week adopted the 2011 budget. This budget addresses the basic needs of the County while preserving services that many of our residents rely on. The Great Recession has had a devastating impact on our regional economy and our 2011 budget reflects the difficult cuts that were needed. As Chair of this year’s Budget Committee, I wanted to share some additional details about the painful cuts that were made as well as the programs that were able to be restored.

The 2011 budget does all it can to preserve our quality of life and protect our most vulnerable, while recognizing the fiscal challenges we will face in the coming years. I am grateful to all of you who submitted comments and attended our budget hearings. Your voices were an important part in my decision making.

More information, including the full text of the 2011 adopted budget is available here. As always, it is an honor and privilege to serve you.

Sincerely,

Julia Patterson, King County Councilmember - District 5

Painful Cuts

Sharing the Pain

Restoring Programs

King County Councilmember
Julia Patterson
www.kingcounty.gov/patterson
julia.patterson@kingcounty.gov

Find me on:

Painful Cuts

The 2011 budget reduces expenses and services in every corner of county government. There were no easy cuts left this year.

• This budget eliminates more than 300 jobs across all County agencies.

• It also includes painful cuts to public safety services including laying off 28 sheriff deputies, 16 deputy prosecutors, and 28 employees in Superior and District Court and Judicial Administration.

• As a result of these cuts there will be fewer police patrolling our neighborhoods, increasing caseloads for prosecuting attorneys, and some offenders may even go without probation supervision.

• Public Health services in King County were also subject to additional cuts after already reducing their budget by 22 percent over the past two years.

• For the first time in decades, some pregnant women in King County will have nowhere to go for services.

• Programs dedicated to infants, teens and low-income mothers supported through the Children and Family Commission will also face elimination.

Sharing the Pain

As painful as these cuts are, this pain would have been even more severe if it were not for the more than 90 percent of all King County employees who agreed to forgo their cost of living adjustments (COLAs) for 2011.

Each of these employees rose to the challenge of doing their share to preserve services to the public, and they should be commended for their dedication to “sharing the pain” in this year’s budget. Through their partnership, we were able to preserve $23.5 million in services across all agencies in 2011.

Restoring Programs

Some of the services saved through this partnership with County employees include vital programs that serve some of our most vulnerable residents, including:  

• Domestic violence shelters, legal aid for low-income families and services for survivors of sexual assault

• Family Court, alternatives to incarceration programs and public defense services

• Funds have also been reprioritized to maintain Step Up, a program that supports families with abusive children

Additionally, the Council has great concern about the criminal justice agency reductions that were necessary to balance the 2011 budget. As a result, this budget establishes a $1.5 million reserve to meet emergent public safety needs in the future.