I just read the article in the May 28 Reporter, “County Council fails twice to get public safety on the ballot.” The article states that the “Sheriff’s Office uses about 70 percent of the $630 million dollar general fund.” That is grossly inaccurate.
We use approximately 12 percent of the general fund. My annual budget is approximately $142 million. About half of that comes from cities and transit agencies that contract with us and it passes through the general fund.
It is very frustrating that a professional newspaper would perpetuate the common misperception that the Sheriff’s Office is the biggest draw on the county general fund, especially when there is so much rancor about budget shortfalls. In fact our draw against the general fund has declined over the past 10 years. Unfortunately, many elected officials deliberately mislead the public into thinking that we are just growing and eating up all the general fund money. Your article supports that misinformation.
The largest majority of the criminal justice expenses to the county general fund are from the jail, courts, prosecutor’s office and the public defenders office. Most of that funding pays for regional criminal justice services that benefit people living inside the cites of King County as well as those in the unincorporated areas.
I enjoy reading the Reporter and I think many people like me prefer to get their information from a newspaper. We depend of the print media for accurate, more in-depth information.
Sue Rahr, King County Sheriff