Drafter
Clerk 09/12/2003
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A MOTION acknowledging the work of the budget advisory task force and adopting policies to guide development of the 2004 budget and county operations.
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WHEREAS, King County is a regional government providing a broad array of basic services to over one million seven hundred thousand residents of King County, and
WHEREAS, King County is also the local government for nearly three hundred fifty thousand residents living in King County outside city boundaries, and
WHEREAS, most of the regional and local services King County provides are mandated by state law, such as superior court, district court, sheriff, property assessment, public records, elections, licensing, juvenile and adult detention and public health, and
WHEREAS, the vast majority of these mandatory services are budgeted in the current expense fund, and
WHEREAS, the current expense fund is funded largely through property taxes, growth of which is capped at one percent per year, plus new construction, and
WHEREAS, as currently constituted, the rate of growth of expenditures paid for by the current expense fund is growing at a rate of 5.5 to 6.5 percent per year, and
WHEREAS, as currently collected, the rate of growth of revenues in the current expense fund is less than two percent per year, and
WHEREAS, absent major changes in the way King County does business or in its available revenues, or a combination of both, this gap between expenditure growth and revenue growth is anticipated to require annual recurring cuts to current expense programs of between fifteen million and twenty-five million dollars per year, and
WHEREAS, such recurring budget cuts will force continuing reductions in essential and mandated public services, and
WHEREAS, expenditures on law, safety, and justice programs make up seventy-five percent of the current expense fund expenditures and absent continued changes in the delivery of these services they will consume all curren...

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