The Metropolitan King County Council today called on state lawmakers to work with King County on funding of mandated services and expansion of the options available for funding a regional transportation plan. On the first day of the 2004 session of the Washington State Legislature, councilmembers approved their agenda of legislative proposals to send to Olympia.

“We made some significant progress in Olympia last year on public health and transportation,” said Council Chair Larry Phillips. “The Legislature provided us with funds for public health in 2003 and 2004, and more than one-fourth of the state transportation funding package will be spent in King County. But these funds are a case of putting our fingers in the dike to hold back the flood. We have done a tremendous job in the last couple of years of transforming county government, but the reality is that we’re running out of fingers. We need the state Legislature to work with us to find solutions to the fiscal challenges facing the county if we are to continue funding and delivering basic government services.”

By state law, county government must depend on property and sales taxes, unlike cities which have authority to levy utility and business and occupation taxes. Municipal annexations and incorporations have eroded the County’s sales tax base. King County’s State Legislative Agenda adopted today does not specify any particular revenue source but does recommend the utility tax within the urban unincorporated areas as one method of enhancing revenues. It calls for an overall reform of the fiscal relationship between King County and Washington State and identifies five funding priorities:

• Preservation of Basic County Government Services: Despite cutting more than $90 million over the last two years and continuing to restructure the way King County does business with criminal justice, parks and cultural resources, the county cannot sustain its current service levels. Criminal justice costs now consume more than 70 percent of the entire King County general fund, and those costs continue to grow faster than the revenues to support them. Many of these costs are due to state-imposed or statutory responsibilities, and extraordinary criminal cases. The county legislative agenda calls for preservation and possible expansion of state support to the county. If the state cannot expand support, the agenda suggests the identification of new, long-term revenue sources.

“The voters of King County have strongly opposed the initiatives that have played a role in the crisis we’re facing,” said Phillips. “All we seek is a funding mechanism that will allow us to continue providing both mandated services and those services our citizens have come to expect.”

• Annexation Reform and Smart Growth Management: King County is the local government for nearly 350,000 residents living in unincorporated areas, 220,000 of which live within urban unincorporated areas that are slated for eventual annexation to cities. Lacking urban funding tools, and given its heavy dependence on the property tax, the County is unable to maintain its regional and local service levels under current revenue constraints. As part of its Annexation Initiative, King County continues to support its request for authority to impose a utility tax in urban unincorporated areas.

• Transportation Solutions and Regional Funding: With the passage of Initiative 776, King County and the cities within the County lost more than $200 million over the next ten years (approximately $20 million each year) for county road improvements and city street maintenance. King County supports legislative action to mitigate the impact of Initiative 776. The County continues to support the Regional Transportation Investment District (RTID) process already underway while recognizing that amendments to the RTID legislation may need to be made. These may include revisions to revenue sources, state bonding authority, clarified tolling authority, and the expansion of project eligibility to encompass a blend of roads and transit, including all forms of high capacity transit such rail and ferries.

“The economic spine of this region should be a 21st century transportation system, a system that recognizes the interdependence of good roads and transportation choices,” said Phillips. “We must have an RTID plan that ensures support for both sides of the system.”

• Mental Health Funding: Funding for King County’s mental health system was severely cut in the last three legislative sessions, resulting in significant reductions to critical services for at-risk and vulnerable populations. King County supports use of the temporary increase from the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) to eliminate the ratable reduction, thereby allowing the state to earn federal match revenue. To help stabilize the mental health system, King County supports increased funding.

• Election Write-In Voter Intent Correction: In the wake of the Medina City Council race that involved a dispute over a write-in candidate, the Council is supporting legislation that would resolve issues related to determining voter intent for write-in candidates.

Read more about this legislation on the King County Council’s LEGISEARCH system at http://mkcclegisearch.metrokc.gov and type in “2003-0536”