Dear Neighbor:
I have learned a lot by traveling around King County and listening to constituents on a wide range of topics. September has brought several important events to our region, from an opportunity to reward an inspiring young team's success, to the delivery of the Executive's proposed biennial $8.9 billion budget.
Please take a moment to read the following and learn about what is happening and at King County.
Reach Out's 4th Annual Pay it Forward Breakfast
Pictured left to right: Pay it Forward award recipient Tyler Lum of Decatur High School, Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer, Lenny Wilkens, Business leader Tom Medhurst, and Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy. |
September 9, 2014
I was pleased to chair the “Pay it Forward” breakfast for the fourth consecutive year. This fundraiser raises money to operate winter shelters to help homeless men and women in South King County and North Pierce County during our coldest and wettest season.
This year, our guest speaker was NBA Hall of Fame player and coach, Lenny Wilkens. Coach Wilkens spoke to the importance of organizations such as Reach Out, which strive to bring about positive change and make a difference in our community.
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9/11 Essay Contest
Pictured left to right: Lt Chris Burdyshaw, the designer of the South King Fire & Rescue 911 Memorial, Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer, and Assistant Chief Ed Plumlee. |
September 11, 2014
In coordination with the opening of South King Fire & Rescue's 9/11 Memorial, I sponsored an essay contest open to students between the ages of 16 and 22. Students were asked to write an essay in 500 words or less, answering the question "Why is it important for our community to commemorate September 11, 2001?"
Stephanie Stanek from Decatur High School and the University of Washington and Kelly Pham from Federal Way High School were each awarded a $500.00 scholarship.
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TJ & the M's
September 13, 2014
Last April, Mariners Manager Lloyd McClendon joined us as the guest speaker at the Auburn and Federal Way Boys & Girls Club breakfast. In order to engage local high school baseball teams and give young players a unique opportunity to hear an MLB manger speak, I invited the varsity teams in District 7 to attend. While at the breakfast, I made a deal with Thomas Jefferson High School (the only high school in my district that is in unincorporated King County) that if they made the playoffs, I'd take them to a Seattle Mariners game. The young men fought hard and kept their promise, making the playoffs.
I was pleased to reward this outstanding group of prep athletes with the opportunity to attend M's batting practice, as well as a game with "King Felix" on the mound.
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Good Eggs
Pictured left to right: State Sen. Joe Fain, 47th District, Senate Candidate Shari Song, 30th District, Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer, State Sen. Pam Roach, 31st District, State Sen. Candidate and former State Rep. Mark Miloscia, 30th District, and State Sen. Candidate/State Rep. Cathy Dahlquist, 31st District. |
September 17, 2014
At my regular Good Eggs breakfast, I hosted State Senate candidates from around South King County. District 7 covers five Legislative Districts stretching from the border of Enumclaw to the Puget Sound and from Kent to the Pierce County line. More than 40 community leaders in business, government, and education attended this important discussion. |
Looking ahead to the 2015-2016 County Budget
Pictured left to right: Auburn Mayor Nancy Backus, and King County Councilmembers Pete von Reichbauer and Dave Upthegrove. |
Understanding the county budget:
The county has two types of funds: Dedicated and General. Dedicated Funds comprise the largest portion -- 83%-- of the total county budget. These funds include contracts for services, fees, and levies that have been collected for specific purposes and must be allocated by law toward those purposes. For example, bus fares must go toward paying for transit; sewer fees toward paying for wastewater treatment; and the voter-approved EMS property tax levy to fund Emergency Medical Services.
General Fund
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The General Fund (see pie chart to right), which is about 17% of the total budget, has more flexibility. This fund pays for the traditional functions of county government, such as the Sheriff's office, and critical day-to-day services that are not supported by dedicated revenues. Almost 73% of the general fund goes to support state-mandated criminal justice and public safety services. The remainder pays for other programs, such as health and human services.
The General Fund and the many services it provides to county residents are supported by two principal sources of tax revenue: property tax and sales tax.
Where your property tax dollar goes
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King County is the property tax collector for all taxing districts within the county. Although you pay your property tax to King County, the County receives only 18 cents of every dollar. The rest goes to other agencies, including over 50 cents to schools, 18 cents to cities and towns, and 8 cents to other taxing districts (see graph to right).
Where your sales tax goes |
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Although King County residents pay an average sales tax of 9.5 percent, the state keeps 6.5 percent while 1.8 percent goes to Metro Transit and Sound Transit, and 0.2 percent is set aside for criminal justice, mental health and substance abuse services. The remaining 1 percent is split between cities and the County. (See graph to right.)
Why is there a budget shortfall?
King County is now the 14th most populous county in the nation, with over 1.9 million residents, and King County’s government is the second largest provider of public services in Washington State. However, as the County has grown as federal and state governments have made significant reductions to their support of vital human services and left other critical needs unfunded. These service responsibilities have come without additional funding from the state or other sources to meet the expenses they incur. Thus, in addition to the services they usually provide to residents, counties have had to fill the gap.
Counties have only two principal sources of tax revenue to support public services—property tax and sales tax—a structure that dates back to the farm-based economy of the 1850s.
In the 1990’s, by voter initiative, the amount of property taxes levied by counties was capped at 1 percent per year, plus revenue from new construction. As a result, revenues counties receive grow at a much lower rate than the cost of maintaining services to residents. This gap is called the “structural gap,” and is one of the reasons the county has experienced a shortfall.
Listening is the beginning of understanding and your input is valuable to me as my colleagues and I begin the budget process. With that in mind, I’d like to invite you to attend one of our four Budget and Fiscal Management Town Halls and provide your perspective on what you would like to see in the 2015-2016 King County Budget.
The dates and locations are as follow:
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Wednesday, October 8 – Fall City—Chief Kanim Middle School (the Commons Area) 32627 SE Redmond-Fall City Rd
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Tuesday, October 14 – Bellevue—City Hall, Council Chambers 450 110th Avenue NE
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Thursday, October 23 – Kent—Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center, Courtroom 3F, 401 Fourth Avenue N
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Wednesday, October 29 – Seattle—King County Courthouse, Council Chambers 10th Flr. 516 Third Ave.
All meetings begin at 6:30 p.m.
I encourage you to contact my office at (206) 477-1007 or email me at pete.vonreichbauer@kingcounty.gov if you have any questions, comments or concerns. Also, please visit my Facebook Page for updates about my activities at the King County Council.
With Best Wishes,
Pete von Reichbauer
King County Councilmember |
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