County funding to assist service programs, acquire community open space

Published 2:51 pm Friday, November 30, 2007

The Metropolitan King County Council unanimously adopted a county budget for 2008 that supports critical services for the Shoreline and Lake Forest Park area while staying within the property tax limits of Initiative 747 even though that Initiative was recently deemed unconstitutional by the State Supreme Court.

Councilmember Bob Ferguson, who represents Shoreline and Lake Forest Park, was the budget chair and led the county in negotiating and adopting a budget that reduces the Executive’s proposed $5 billion budget by $40 million.

“Shoreline and Lake Forest Park have critical needs that require immediate support at a time when budgets are tight for everyone,” said Ferguson. “The citizens of Shoreline and Lake Forest Park helped to establish county budget priorities and clearly identified specific local programs as high priorities.” As budget chair, Ferguson worked to ensure that the 2008 budget included funding for Shoreline and Lake Forest Park organizations:

Food Lifeline: The Shoreline-based agency distributes food to 141 King County food banks, meal programs and shelters. The funds will assist in the expansion of their food distribution program.

“Food Lifeline thanks the King County Council for making ending hunger a priority in the 2008 county budget,” said Linda Nageotte, President/CEO of Food Lifeline. “In a time of growing transportation costs and reduced donations, the additional funding for Food Lifeline will allow us to continue to retrieve, process, and distribute much needed food for the over 140 food banks, meal programs, and shelters that we serve in King County.”

Parkview Services: Funds support homebuyer education and counseling for the Shoreline organization as they assist people with developmental disabilities and their families.

Cromwell Park: Funds will assist in the revitalization of Cromwell Park athletic fields.

North Urban Human Services Alliance: The Alliance’s members include religious organizations, human service providers, and city and county governments. The Alliance addresses human service needs in North King County, including Shoreline and Lake Forest Park.

“Funding will enable us to continue to identify the critical human service needs in North King County,” said George Smith, President of the North Urban Human Services Alliance. “The funding will also support creative and effective methods to meet those needs.”

The 2008 budget also provides funding for the purchase of open space in Shoreline through the use of King County’s open space funding, a program dedicated to the purchase of open space, greenbelts, wildlife habitat and trails. The budget includes funding for the following:

Kruckeberg Property: Funds will assist with the transfer and operation of a botanical garden located on the Richmond Beach property.

South Woods Addition II: Funds will assist with the purchase of a 15-acre parcel of a second growth conifer forest located south of Shorecrest High School in Shoreline.

“The council exercised fiscal restraint when crafting this budget,” said Ferguson. “We delivered a budget that reduces the executive’s overall proposed budget and reduces his proposed general fund expenditures while maintaining current levels of services, increasing general fund reserves and anticipating future emergencies. The budget also respects the property tax limits of Initiative 747.”

The council’s deliberations over the complete county budget was guided by the http://www.kingcounty.gov/council/budget/budget_priorities.aspx” “Priorities for People” heard from citizens through the council’s extensive citizen engagement process conducted earlier this year. The process, spearheaded by Ferguson, gave the council members a framework to develop countywide priorities including:

Mental Health and Chemical Dependency: Establishes revenue to fund expanded programs for treatment of citizens with mental illness and substance abuse issues.

Law Enforcement Oversight and Criminal Justice: Ensures continued implementation of the Blue Ribbon Panel recommendations for the Sheriff’s Office, and increases staffing in District Court to address rising caseloads and improve court customer service.

Metro Transit Service and Security: Funds more than 160,000 new Metro bus service hours and eliminates advertising wraps over bus windows. Also adds transit police officers to increase police presence on buses and at passenger facilities.

Rainy Day Reserve: Creates a permanent rainy day reserve that insulates essential county services from the effect of catastrophic loss or a severe downturn in the local economy.

Elections Oversight: Creates a new Elections Division as a stand-alone operation within the Department of Executive Services to allow the Elections Director to focus solely on management of important elections systems.

Read the full text of the council ordinance adopting the 2008 King County Budget at http://www.metrokc.gov/council/budget or www.kingcounty.gov/council/budget.