Drafter
Clerk 10/06/2005
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AN ORDINANCE mandating sound financial policies for King County government and ensuring sustainable economic prosperity that will be the benchmark of fiscal stability for the county and will guide future budgetary actions by the King County executive and the King County council; and adding a new chapter to K.C.C. Title 4.
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BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Findings.
A. King County is a regional government providing a broad array of basic services to over one million seven hundred thousand residents of King County.
B. King County is also the local government for nearly three hundred fifty thousand residents living in unincorporated King County outside city boundaries.
C. Most of the regional and local services King County provides, including those related to superior court, district court, sheriff, property assessment, public records, elections, licensing, juvenile and adult detention and public health, are mandated by state law.
D. The vast majority of these mandatory services are budgeted in the current expense fund.
E. The current expense fund is funded largely through property taxes, growth of which is capped by state law at one percent per year, plus new construction.
F. In the years 2002, 2003 and 2004, the projected current expense fund deficits were fifty-two million, forty-one million and twenty-four million dollars respectively; and drastic financial measures were necessary to resolve these deficits.
G. The King County executive created several citizen advisory initiatives to help address many of the underlying causes of the county's ongoing budget shortfalls. Each of these citizen organizations played an important role in achieving financial recovery of the county, and has made a substantial contribution toward the creation of a plan for future economic stability in the region. These initiatives include:
1. The budget advisory task force, composed of citiz...
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