By Warren Cornwall
Herald Writer
Snohomish County government’s proposed budget for next year calls for costly construction projects, while at the same time the county would tighten its belt in a slowing economy.
County Executive Bob Drewel’s proposal, unveiled Friday, would increase overall county spending by nearly 13 percent over 2001, up to $546 million. At the same time, departments not related to construction, roads or a computer systems upgrade would gain few new employees or money.
"We are facing greater challenges with fewer resources," Drewel told the county council and others in his budget address.
Several tax increases are part of the spending plan.
Collections of a property tax for road construction and repair would increase by 6 percent for residents outside cities. General property tax revenues would also have to increase by nearly 2 percent over 2001.
The county will also ask voters in 2002 to raise the state sales tax by one-tenth of a cent to help pay for running a yet-to-be-built jail, Drewel said. That tax would add 30 cents to the cost of buying a $300 stereo, or $20 to the cost of a $20,000 car, and would raise an estimated $8 million a year.
The general fund budget, the portion of the budget funded largely with tax revenues including property and sales taxes, would slightly outpace inflation, with an increase of 4.6 percent, Drewel said. But the county also faces a growing population and health care costs rising far faster than the budget, he said.
A number of departments, including the sheriff and the jail, get the bulk of their funding from the general fund.
The county’s fiscal outlook, already dampened by signs of an economic downturn, was worsened by aftershocks of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., Roger Neumaier said. The attacks and news of planned layoffs at Boeing combined to cut county revenue estimates by $1 million, he said.
Most departments escaped the cuts Drewel had warned about earlier this year. The Planning and Development Services Department, which oversees most land-use matters, was the exception. A drop in development activity will force the department to cut 22 positions in the coming year, according to the budget.
The budget plans could, however, be upset at the ballot box this November. Initiative 747 would cap increases in property tax revenues to 1 percent unless voters approved a bigger increase. That measure, the latest from tax activist Tim Eyman, would counter the increases proposed in Drewel’s budget.
Meanwhile, the county is pushing forward with ambitious construction projects of its own. The costs of that, from architects fees to construction to debt payments on the bonds used to finance the projects, were the main force behind the overall surge in county spending, Neumaier said.
The county is embarking on an overhaul of its county campus and jail that could cost $140 million or more. Construction on the $87 million jail expansion is to begin in 2002. The council in 2000 added another $17 million in spending to buy park land and study how to manage rain and floodwater around the county.
The county recently sold $180 million worth of bonds to pay for that and other construction projects, and must begin paying off the debt.
The proposal now moves from the Democratic executive to the county council for approval or modification.
Gary Nelson, the council’s lone Republican, said he was concerned that the debt accumulated by construction projects was eating into the budget. He also said the council would have to scrutinize the budget to ensure that tax revenue projections weren’t overly optimistic.
"The county council will have a very cautious approach," he said.
But Nelson said he hadn’t examined the budget enough to say what parts he would or wouldn’t support.
You can call Herald Writer Warren Cornwall at 425-339-3463 or send e-mail to cornwall@heraldnet.com.
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