Councilmember Balducci on the Release of County Budget

November 10, 2016

Summary

Freshman County Councilmember Helps Lead Council’s Budget Development, Preserving Public Safety, Expanding Transportation Options, Addressing Homelessness and Affordable Housing, and Limiting Property Tax Increases

Story

Metropolitan King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci announced Thursday investments in public safety, housing and homelessness support, transportation and county infrastructure as the King County Council Budget Committee approved the County’s 2017-2018 budget.

“After starting the year with a $50 million general fund deficit, I am proud to have worked with my colleagues on the Budget Leadership Team and in the Executive branch to retain critical services like the Sheriff’s air support and marine patrol units, to expand funding for alternative bus services like the routes currently serving Mercer Island and Redmond, and to provide funding and staffing to combat homelessness and to convene a regional collaboration on housing affordability.”

The Council’s proposed budget restores public safety funding that was previously threatened with cuts due to funding shortfall, including:

• $1.43 million to restore the King County Search and Rescue Helicopter which supports local police in apprehending fugitives as well as stranded hikers in the cascades.

• $945,000 to restore the KCSO Marine Unit, which protects the lives and safety of boaters on Lake Washington, Lake Sammamish and the county’s many rivers.

The Council Budget also contributes significant new and continued dedicated funding to increase priorities like transportation, housing and human services:

• $4 million for new alternative-service bus lines, to serve areas that are not easily or well-served by traditional fixed route bus lines, similar to the current Redmond Loop and the Mercer Island Community Shuttle,

• Decreased match requirements to make bus tickets more available to clients of human service agencies like Hopelink and the YWCA,

• $5.9 million for designated shelters in and around downtown Seattle,

• $1 million fund to partner with communities outside of Seattle in providing shelter,

• Funding for new position for a collaborative effort to include cities, nonprofit and private partners to address housing affordability as a regional challenge,

• Restored funding for critical human service providers in the areas of domestic violence prevention, senior services and civil legal aid, including preserving full funding for valued eastside service providers like the Eastside Legal Assistance Program.

In addition, the Council budget will benefit the eastside by including new grant opportunities to promote youth and family sports, including $2 million for a potential new aquatic and athletic center to serve Bellevue, Kirkland and Redmond, and $200,000 in grants available for Council District 6 to support programs that help young people and older adults get and stay active over the next two years.

In her role as a supervisor on the King County Flood Control District, Balducci successfully advocated for the District to forego an annual property tax increase for the first time since the District was formed in 2007, while focusing existing resources on speeding delivery of needed flood safety projects such as the Willowmoor project at the outflow from Lake Sammamish.

“I am proud of all we were able to accomplish for the people of King County and the Eastside in this budget,” said Balducci. “Over the past several weeks my colleagues and I have worked hard to provide our core public safety and transportation services, while addressing the pressing needs in our community and responding to strong feedback from the public. This budget will provide better access to transit, help our neighbors in need, support active and healthy living, and also save lives.”

Balducci represents County Council District 6, and served on the Council’s Budget Leadership Team with three of her Council colleagues, an honor for a first-year councilmember. Council Budget Chair Dave Upthegrove praised Councilmember Balducci as “a steadying force and a voice for sound management” on the Budget Leadership Team.