Drafter
Clerk 06/05/2014
Title
AN ORDINANCE adopting public transportation service reductions in September 2014.
Body
STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. Transit division ("Metro") service is funded mainly by sales tax, and due to the inherently unstable and variable nature of that funding source, the amount of operating funds available from that source varies with the health of the economy. The economic downturn that started in 2008 and resultant decline in sales tax revenues caused a projected shortfall in Metro's operating funds of about $1.2 billion for the years 2009 through 2015.
2. Since 2009, Metro has undertaken a series of actions to address the revenue shortfall, including increasing system-wide operating efficiencies, use of one-time reserve funds, and generation of new revenue, resulting in approximately $800 million in cost savings and additional resources and closing the financial gap by approximately $148 million annually. Although the worst of the recession has passed and sales tax revenue is currently on an uptick, the economy has not recovered enough to generate the sustained sales tax revenues needed to close this financial gap.
3. A temporary funding source, the congestion reduction charge, was authorized by the state Legislature and approved by the county council in 2011, through Ordinance 17169. The intent of this legislation was to help address transit revenue shortfalls during the economic downturn and allow King County Metro to continue reducing congestion on some of the state's most crowded highways.
4. To close the annual budget gap in the 2013/2014 Biennal Budget Ordinance, transit service must be reduced consistent with the King County Metro Service Guidelines.
5. The proposed reductions to Metro's fixed route transit network include bus service changes that affect all jurisdictions within King County, as well as portions of unincorporated King County.
6. The proposed service reductions are consistent with the policy direct...

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