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Dear Friend,

Today the King County Council voted to approve the 2009 budget. Our budget prioritizes public health, public safety, and quality of life for the residents of King County, while maintaining the County’s financial health.

Budget PresentationThroughout the budget process, the Council heard from hundreds of residents at six public budget hearings and thousands of constituents through phone and email. I personally met with people across King County who shared the importance of protecting resources such as the King County Fair, the Sheriff’s storefront offices in unincorporated King County, and public health centers. I want to thank every single person who took the time to contact the Council or testify at a public hearing. Hearing the thoughts and concerns of our residents and community leaders resulted in a budget that is sensitive to the priorities of King County.

Leaders throughout the County also worked with the Council to ensure the budget retained our most critical programs. As Chair of the King County Council, I am proud to highlight some programs protected in the budget.

Public Safety:

  • Public SafetyThe Council restored funding for all Sheriff’s storefront offices, critical to protecting unincorporated areas of King County. In addition, the budget restores funding for major accident detectives and maintains security at the County’s court facilities.
  • The budget restored full-year funding for Superior Court’s Drug Diversion Court and United Family Court Services, as well as full-year funding for District Court’s award-winning Mental Health Court and Relicensing Court.
  • Unique programs treating domestic violence for juvenile offenders, such as “Step-Up,” will receive much needed funding for 2009.

Public Health:

  • Public HealthAll King County public health centers received full-year funding in 2009.
  • County funding for family planning service was extended from six to nine months and the Council will ask the Washington State Legislature to provide long-term funding for the program.
  • Programs for the control of sexually transmitted disease received full-year funding for 2009.

Quality of Life:

  • The budget preserves all bus service to meet the growing demand from riders. In addition, the budget continues to roll-out services promised in the “Transit Now” measure, which provides increased public transit from King County Metro.
  • We funded the South King County Regional Trail, which connects heavily populated areas in Kent, Renton, Des Moines, SeaTac, Tukwila, Burien, and Federal Way. The trail will provide a safe path for those who bike or walk to work through South King County.

The Council was able to protect these programs by adopting cost-saving measures and requiring more transparency from County programs. However, as a Council, we also made difficult decisions regarding funding for many other programs and services. Although those programs will receive funding for six-months using county reserves, we will need to work with the Washington State Legislature to secure long-term funding for the continuation of these services.

Read more about the budget: www.kingcounty.gov/council/budget

Again, thank you to everyone who followed and participated in this challenging budget process. The number of comments the Council received demonstrates the care and compassion of the residents of King County. As always, it is an honor and privilege to serve you.

Sincerely,

Julia Patterson
King County Councilmember - District 5
 

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