2004 SEATTLE BUDGET

The City Council unanimously approved the 2004 budget on Monday, November 24.

Under the Seattle two-year budget cycle, the 2004 budget was 'endorsed' in the fall of 2002, when the Council adopted the 2003 budget. Normally, there are only minor changes between the 'endorsed' budget and the 'approved' budget, but the continuing recession caused a further erosion of city revenues, and additional cuts were required.

In response to community concerns, the Council ensured that public safety, library, and human services budgets were not further reduced. The Council also added some $2.1 million to the Mayor's proposed budget, principally to restore important programs that had been cut by the Mayor. The Council identified new resources for these additions, largely through improved revenues forecast as a result of having updated tax information through October.

Health. The Council added $813,935 to fund Community Health Centers to provide additional medical and dental services for low-income individuals and families and bring funding back up to the 2003 level. The Council also restored $58,000 to the Master Home Environmentalist (MHE), a program of the American Lung Association, which trains volunteers to perform home environmental audits. This program targets low income and minority households, and is a key tool in combating the increasing incidence of childhood asthma, which affects inner city children four times as often as those in more affluent neighborhoods. Councilmembers Jan Drago, Margaret Pageler, and I took the lead in securing the funding for health centers, while I took the lead on the MHE program.

Human Services. The Council provided $200,000 of fund balance from the Families and Education Levy for an additional 59 child care slots, restored $56,311 for Batterers' Treatment Services for Asian Pacific Islanders, added $140,000 in funding for expanded Hygiene Services for Women in Downtown Seattle, restored $95,000 in funding for the Tenants Union, restored $34,000 for the Harborview Sexual Assault and Traumatic Stress Training Program, and added $10,000 to the Abused Deaf Women's Advocacy Services organization to provide one-on-one support and education to abused mothers on parenting issues. The Council was unable to find enough resources to restore funding to the Neighborhood House tenant assistance programs. I led the effort the restore the Harborview program, and joined Councilmember Richard McIver in working on the Asian Pacific Islander Batterer's Treatment program, while Councilmembers Nick Licata and Judy Nicastro led the efforts on the Tenants Union, Councilmember Peter Steinbrueck led on the child care and hygiene services issues, and Councilmember Nicastro brought forward the Abused Deaf Women's program.

Neighborhoods. There were simply not enough funds to restore the major cuts that were made in the Department of Neighborhoods, including the elimination of the staff charged with implementing neighborhood plans. The council was able to put together enough money to restore $62,000 to complete Historic Properties surveys, $33,545 to staff the Pike Place Market Historical Commission and the Ballard Landmark District, $58,731 for the Community Garden Coordinator position in the City's P-Patch Program, and $12,000 to the King County Dispute Resolution Center. The Council also restored $400,000 in additional funding to the Large Projects - Neighborhood Matching Fund. Councilmember Steinbrueck led the effort to restore the historical program and staffing, while I initiated the restoration of the Community Garden Coordinator. Councilmembers Drago, Licata, and I worked on the Neighborhood Matching Fund issues.

Public Safety. The Council responded to the urgent pleas from the Capitol Hill, Madison-Miller, and Central Area communities by adding $430,000 for the East Precinct Safety Initiative. Under this Initiative, the Seattle Neighborhood Group will work with citizens and businesses to increase public safety in the East Precinct. The Council's intent is to ensure that a full-time bicycle patrol is operational year-round, and to provide $30,000 to fund a Street Outreach worker in Capitol Hill. The Council also restored $258,577 to fund school crossing guards at 2003 levels, and allocated $150,000 to study health concerns of firefighters at Fire Station 31. Key credit for these actions goes to Councilmember Licata, with strong support from Councilmember Jim Compton, on the Capitol Hill Safety Initiative, and to Councilmember Steinbrueck on crossing guards and Councilmembers Compton and Drago on the Fire Station issue.

Transportation. The Council approved $200,000 in funding in 2004 for sidewalks to implement 1 or 2 proposed Local Improvement Districts. The Council removed City funding for the proposed South Lake Union Streetcar project and limited expenditures to State and Federal grants only. These expenditures are restricted to $295,000 for developing information to enable the Council to make a threshold decision about the proposed South Lake Union Streetcar and possible extension of the Waterfront Streetcar. The Council also limited the 2004 appropriation for the Mercer Street Corridor Project to $163,000 until the Council reviews and approves a set of alternatives to be considered in an EIS. All of these items were negotiated between the Council and the Mayor's office.

The Council also increased funding for City Light's conservation incentive programs by $500,000, thanks to Councilmember Heidi Wills, agreed to the one-time expense of providing alum treatment for Green Lake, and approved drainage rates for 2004 that would on average go up 8.8 percent next year (instead of the 14 percent increase proposed by the Mayor) and wastewater rates that would increase an average of 6.7 percent in 2004 (instead of 8.5 percent proposed by the Mayor).

The 2004 budget situation was complicated by a November 13 Washington State Supreme Court ruling, which required the City general fund to pay City Light for street light expenses. The transfer requires $6 million more in cuts for 2004. I disagree with the Court's ruling, and believe that most Seattle citizens would not support this lawsuit, which basically shifts money from one pocket to another, since generally the same people who pay city light rates also pay our other taxes.

Because of the lateness of the ruling, and the fact that no provisions were made for this in the Mayor's budget, the Council was only able to identify $1.8 million at this time, mainly by cutting the Mayor's proposed Targeted Infrastructure Program funding ($900,000), and new sidewalk program funding ($500,000). While I personally supported these programs, I agreed that they were reasonable targets for cuts in the face of this emergency. The Council provided $4.2 million from the Emergency Subfund pending a longer-term plan for covering this expense to be developed in the first quarter of 2004.

I am disappointed that we were unable to restore a number of other high priority programs, but our budget has been seriously constrained not only by the loss of revenues due to the recession, but by the effects of initiatives limiting our property tax and gas tax revenues. The City will face even more difficult choices for the 2005-2006 budget cycle, when we are currently forecasting deep cuts in transportation revenues and a need to find resources for new libraries and community centers coming on line thanks to voter supported levies. I hope that the economy will improve, and/or that the legislature or the voters will provide us with new sources of revenue. Many of the cuts we are taking now are painful, and we will likely have to face worse choices in the future.

I am pleased, however, that we were able to respond to several key community priorities in this budget, and that we were able to do as much as we did to preserve public safety, libraries, and the safety net for those among us who are hardest hit by the economic downturn. I very much appreciate the hard and effective work of my Council colleagues, especially Budget Chair Jan Drago, in achieving this.

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QUOTE:
"You can't avoid leaving poor children behind when you systematically leave their parents behind."

-- Roger Wilkins

DEEP THOUGHT:
"You can't tell which way the train went by looking at the track."

-- Anonymous

Citizen participation and engagement are critical for maintaining democracy -- fostering it is a key task of elected officials. It's my hope that this newsletter will inform you about issues, inspire you to get involved, and that together we can make things work better in this great city. Please send me your feedback, so we can keep things lively, interesting, and useful. And please forward it along to friends who might be interested.

Richard Conlin
Your Seattle City Councilmember

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