Drafter
Clerk 11/26/2002
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AN ORDINANCE adopting the 2003 Annual Budget and making appropriations for the operation of county agencies and departments and capital improvements for the fiscal year beginning January 1, 2003 and ending December 31, 2003.
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BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Findings: The council hereby makes the following findings of fact.
A. The metropolitan King County council has, over the past few years, adopted a number of long-range policies that prioritize competing needs while addressing the growing structural gap between the county's revenues and expenditures. In 2002, $41 million in cuts were needed to balance the general fund. In 2003, $53 million in cuts are needed. This structural gap will continue for the foreseeable future, with projected shortfalls of $24 million in both 2004 and 2005.
B. This 2003 King County budget implements the council's policies for services that must take the highest priority, and for those services that are mandated by the state and by the county's voter-approved charter.
C. The first priority is public safety, to be met by ensuring that resources will be available for the foreseeable future for law enforcement in the unincorporated area, the county court system, the punishment of criminals and the reduction of crime. Yet the council recognizes that without reductions in operational costs, by 2007 the costs of the county's criminal justice system would entirely consume the current expense fund.
D. By Ordinance 13916 the council created the Juvenile Justice Operational Master Plan in 2000 to help reduce juvenile crime while saving several million dollars in the system. This budget continues to invest in these programs that improve quality of life for our citizens and youth while also reducing costs.
E. When closing the budget gap in 2002, the council began by tasking King County district court with a twenty one percent reduction. The court accomplis...
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