September 18, 2003

Voters asked to Approve Two-Year Budget Cycle
Council Places Charter Amendment on November 2003 Ballot

As King County prepares to begin work on its 2004 budget, the Metropolitan King County Council today approved and sent to the voters a proposed amendment to the King County Charter that would give the County the option to shift to a two-year budget cycle.

“Biennial budgeting will help us meet the fiscal crisis facing King County,” said Councilmember Larry Phillips, Chair of the Budget and Fiscal Management Committee. “Instead of compacting a very complex decision-making process into a six-week sprint, this proposal would give us the opportunity over time to thoroughly examine every agency in the budget.”

The State of Washington operates on a biennial budget, while the King County Charter mandates an annual county budget. The State Legislature in 1997 gave counties the option to shift to biennial budgeting. Last December, Phillips and Councilmember David Irons co-sponsored an ordinance to amend the King County Charter to give the County Council the flexibility to shift to a biennial budget, in whole or in part, so that the Council could do a more in-depth review of county departments. That amendment will now go to the voters in the November 2003 general election.

“This proposal is a chance to do more than just react to the budget challenges facing King County,” said Councilmember Irons. “It would give us the ability to do better long-range planning while still aggressively investigating how we spend our resources for the services we provide to the citizens of King County.”

If the charter amendment is approved, it would still require a separate Council ordinance to implement the biennial budget process. The King County Commission on Governance is currently reviewing the biennial budgeting option and will make a recommendation next year.

“Department budgets drive the overall County budget,” said Phillips. “Right now, with the annual budget process, we are limited in our review of what is involved in putting together the budgets for the criminal justice agencies, for the wastewater and solid waste divisions, and for Metro Transit. A biennial budget allows us to take a fine-tooth comb to agency budgets in the off-year. In the long run, I know it will benefit the taxpayer tremendously.”

Read more about this legislation on the King County Council’s LEGISEARCH system and type in “2002-0603” and “2003-0430”