Dec. 16, 2005
Sims vetoes part of 2005 supplemental budget
King County Executive Ron Sims today made a partial veto of the 2005 Fourth Quarter Supplemental Budget eliminating nearly $4 million in non-county projects the Metropolitan King County Council quietly added last week.
"Adding 48 community and cultural projects with no public process is a breach of our fiscal policies, sets a dangerous precedent and jeopardizes the county's future financial health," Sims said. "It is not a question of whether these projects are worthy, but funding them puts our county's financial health at risk and breaks faith with taxpayers."
Sims, who has served 19 years in county government, called the $4 million in council additions for a long list of non-county agencies unprecedented for a supplemental budget. Sims stressed that the issue is not whether the dozens of council additions to the budget are worthy of funding but the manner in which it was done.
While vetoing $3.8 million in spending, Sims signed $10.2 million in other funding the council approved in the 2005 Fourth Quarter Supplemental Budget, including $7 million for a variety of unexpected needs such as skyrocketing fuel costs for Metro transit and other county agencies, unexpected overtime and technical corrections to the 2005 budget.
"After the anguish of recent lean budget years, it is imperative that we be careful and disciplined in maintaining our reserves," Sims said. "Spending our reserves puts us at risk for a return to deficits and the need for more cuts to balance our budget."
During the last four years Sims and the Council made $137 million in painful cuts in order to balance the county's budget. A strengthening economy and strong financial policies combined to make the 2006 budget proposal the first during Sims' nine years as County Executive that did not include target reductions or budget cuts.
The budget cuts and development of conservative fiscal policies helped the county earn AAA bond ratings from the nation's three rating agencies this fall for the first time in the county's history. The bond rating agencies cited excellent financial management and strong fiscal policies in announcing the AAA ratings. King County is now among the highest rated counties of its size in the nation.
Sims is so concerned about what he considers the council's misuse of the supplemental budget process, he is developing a more rigorous review process for developing and submitting supplemental budgets to the council in the future. He will ask all executive department directors and separately elected county officials to adhere to the new policy.
"In the recent past county agencies have come to rely too much on supplemental budgets to address issues that come up after the budget is adopted," Sims said. "Agencies must learn to live within their budgets and rely less on these periodic budget changes.
"Fiscal discipline must be the norm for all agencies and the council if King County is to maintain its high credit rating and have the reserves to fund critical issues such as preparing for the possibility of pandemic flu," Sims said.
Sims last used his veto power December 11, 2003. During his nine years in office Sims vetoed legislation 14 times--eight full vetoes and six partial vetoes.
Additional information:
- Executive's letter to the King County Council (PDF, 79KB)
- 2005 Council Omnibus Ordinance Changes (PDF, 71KB) The spreadsheet lists all additions made by the County Council to 2005 quarterly omnibus ordinances. ONLY THE ITEMS IN THE COLUMN HEADED 'CHANGE IN 4TH QUARTER' WERE AFFECTED BY THE EXECUTIVE'S PARTIAL VETO.