Sharing your views on how King County spends your tax dollars

Whether through a focus group workshop, community forum or on-line poll, participants in a King County Council initiative to engage citizens in identifying their budget priorities repeatedly cited public health clinics and support for judicial intervention programs as their top priorities for services to fund in the King County budget.

The Council accepted the final report on the Citizen Budget Priorities initiative, an interactive process to get the views of County residents on how government should prioritize county services and spend their tax dollars, at its April 23 meeting. By motion, the council expressed its appreciation to the hundreds of citizens who gave of their time, and transmitted the findings to the County Executive to inform him as he prepares instructions to his departments for their 2008 budget submittals.

This citizen engagement initiative began with a series of five focus group workshops in February and March involving randomly-selected citizens drawn from a cross-section of the population. More than 200 county residents were drawn from a cross-section of geography, income, age, and ethnicity to ensure statistical validity. Participants were polled at five separate workshops using wireless keypads to anonymously record their priorities for county spending. At each meeting, participants were provided with a wireless hand-held keypad with which to anonymously enter their opinions on a variety of issues and spending priorities. Their responses were recorded in real-time, allowing those in attendance to gauge citizen priorities for county government.

The Council’s Operating Budget, Fiscal Management and Mental Health Committee then held two public forums in North and South King County at which an additional 178 residents joined in evaluating the findings and adding their own input. Another 400 people logged onto the County Council Web site to offer their priorities through an online survey.

Among the key findings from the five community workshops:

• “Law, Safety and Justice” ranked as the top budget category, with “Superior and District Courts” ranked the top program within that category. A prominent thread in anecdotal citizen comment showed support for early intervention programs for youth and others that provide alternatives to incarceration.
• “Public Health Clinics” ranked as the top budget program priority across categories.
• “Low Income Housing” and “Youth & Family Services” were rated as top priorities for Community and Human Services.
• “Greater Frequency” was the top priority for Transit among riders and non-riders.
• “Road Maintenance” was the top priority for Roads in the unincorporated areas.
• “Regional Parks and Open Spaces” and “Flood Control” were the top priority in the category of Natural Resources and the Environment.

Under Health and Human Services, 73 percent of participants of all the workshops placed a premium on the funding of public health clinics, making it their primary public health concern:

• More than 80 percent of the people in South King County made public health clinics their top budget priority. North County residents, who were threatened with the closure last year of two health clinics, ranked clinics highest by 79 percent.
• Substance abuse treatment programs received strong support countywide.
• Nearly half of the participants at the Central County workshop stressed the need for low-income housing.
• Residents of Southeast King County called for funding for work training and family service programs.

In the category of Law, Safety and Justice:

• Half the participants at the South King County workshop saw funding support for the superior and district courts as their top priority.
• The courts were also the top priority in the communities of North King County, but emergency preparation and management were also a major concern.
• Residents of East King County made funding for the Sheriff’s Office their top priority.
• Participants in the central core of the County said the programs that are part of the district and superior courts—such as driver relicensing courts and drug and mental health courts are their primary funding concern.

Participants were also asked their budget priorities for transportation issues throughout King County:

• Residents who live in South and East King County joined North and Central County residents in asking for more frequent bus service.
• Eastside bus users stated their preference for using budget funding to increase the number of routes available to them.

The results of the two public forums, which were held in the Maple Leaf neighborhood of North King County and in Kent in South King County, echoed the results of the five community workshops. Three-quarters of the South County participants said health and human services need to be the primary focus of the County’s budget. Half of those responding at the North County forum called the funding of health and human services programs their top budget priority. At both forums, there was a call for funding of the alternatives for incarceration that are part of the district and superior courts. Those attending the forums also joined workshop participants in asking for increased frequency of Metro bus service as an incentive to leave their cars at home.

Responses to the online survey were similar, with online participants saying their budget priorities were on funding human service and court programs.

The motion motion adopted by the Council declared its intent to further deliberate on the report and communicate the Council’s final 2008 budget priorities to the County Executive by August 1.

The Council last fall adopted a set of “Priorities for People” to guide development of the 2007 King County Budget, which totaled $3.86 billion.