Dunn sees good news and bad news in county’s budget

Published 4:51 pm Monday, November 23, 2009

The Metropolitan King County Council on Monday unanimously adopted a 2010 King County Budget that prioritized public safety by cutting less than one percent from criminal justice agencies, maintained the sexual assault and domestic violence safety net and balanced a $200 million deficit in the Metro budget without cutting services.

Councilmember Reagan Dunn, whose district includes portions of Bellevue, said he found both good news and bad news in the budget.

“I’ve been saying since the beginning of the year that this budget must prioritize public safety,” Dunn said. “We have done that in this budget and that’s why it received my vote.”

However, Dunn criticized the King County Executive and organized labor for not coming to an agreement about salary and benefits savings, forcing the Council to dip into reserves to fill an additional $6 million budget hole.

“Spending reserves to balance the budget is not sustainable,” Dunn said. “For another year King County has failed to address the structural budget gap created by too much spending and not enough revenue. Everyone is talking about the structural budget gap being a revenue problem. There is another side to that equation – spending.”

Dunn said he was “hopeful” that a new Executive can begin to address the main driver of the general fund, “which is salaries and benefits.”

Dunn also expressed disappointment that the Council failed to fund the King County Fair and a partnership with the Washington State Cooperative Extension to fund 4-H.

The King County budget will now go to new County Executive Dow Constantine for his signature.