King County budget deficit could bring big consequences

A $150 million budget deficit in the King County biennium general fund could mean drastic cuts to public safety-related departments and county legal services.

However, a new Senate bill could mitigate the cuts at the price of higher property taxes.

The $150 million deficit for the 2026-2027 biennium is about 17% of the county’s non-mandatory budget, said Dwight Dively, director of the King County Office of Performance, Strategy and Budget.

Dively said that cuts of this magnitude would devastate many county programs. He said the cuts made in the 2026-2027 biennium budget cannot be avoided and will not be restored without meaningful revenue reform.

“It is not an exaggeration that the effects would be the most serious since the Great Depression. The county has had to make budget reductions during recessions in the past, but at least some of those could be restored once the economy revived,” Dively said in a Feb. 3 statement to the King County Council.

The deficit is entirely due to the state law that limits property tax revenue increases to 1% per year, plus the value of new construction, Dively said. If property tax revenue had kept up with inflation and population growth since 2002, the general fund would have had $475 million more revenue in 2024, Dively said.

Proposed cuts

• Sheriff’s office, $30.2 million

• General fund transfer to the Department of Community and Human Services, $25.2 million

• General fund transfer to the Department of Public Health, $17.6 million

• Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, $15.5 million

• Superior Court, $15.5 million

• Adult and Juvenile Detention, $7.5 million

• District Court, $7.5 million

• Department of Local Services, $6.8 million

• Judicial Administration, $4.7 million

• Records and Licensing Services, $4.1 million

• Department of Public Defense, $3 million

• Office of Inquest, $3 million

• Assessments, $3 million

• Department of Natural Resources and Parks, $2.6 million

• Jail health services, $2.3 million

• Medical examiner, $700,000

• Elections, $700,000

Effects of the cuts on various departments

On Feb. 26, King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion shared with the King County Budget and Fiscal Management Committee the potential impacts to the prosecuting attorney’s office if forced to cut its budget by $15.5 million. Those impacts could include cutting 90 deputy prosecuting attorneys, Manion said.

Manion said annually, the office’s 150 DPAs review 10,500 criminal investigations referred by the county’s 39 law enforcement agencies. She said that 8,200 are adult cases and 2,300 are juvenile cases.

Manion said it’s a heavy and serious workload for only 150 deputy prosecuting attorneys.

“We are 100% committed, but we need more resources simply to keep up with our current workload and the increased cries for improved public safety,” Manion said. “We cannot afford to lose 90 deputy prosecuting attorneys. That would be a giant step backwards for safety and security in King County.”

King County Superior Court Presiding Judge Ketu Shah said their current biennial budget is about $150 million, and the proposed $15.5 million cut to the Superior Court would slow down the legal process in various facets — and remove resources for those without an attorney going through the family law process. Shah said the Superior Court is where people go for criminal matters, but it’s also where everyday citizens go for civil and family matters, including lawsuits, divorces, child custody matters, eviction cases and probates.

Shah said if $15.5 million is cut from the court’s budget, they will need to cut about 55 employees who assist in those civil matters. Shah said 20 of those employees would be people from family court services who assist people going through the family law process who cannot afford representation. He said these employees assist people in understanding the legal process, and if the services are cut, cases can take longer or even be dismissed because of incorrectly filed paperwork.

Shah said every department at the court is interconnected, so when one department is slowed down, every department is slowed down. For example, if the county cuts the mediators who assist people going through eviction, that would mean judges would need to attend mediations, which would slow down the process because criminal trials come first for judges, Shah said. Shah said if mediators are cut, a civil suit that usually takes around a year from start to finish could take two to three years instead.

“That’s, I think, a recipe for chaos and disorder, and I don’t think anyone wants chaos and disorder,” Shah said. “We want to be able to have a disagreement with somebody, resolve it peacefully, and then move on with our lives.”

King County Sheriff’s Office

King County Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall, on Feb. 26, shared with the budget and fiscal management committee the impacts a $30.2 million cut would have on the department, which included a reduction of deputies in unincorporated King County. Cole-Tindall said the cut would require them to move about half of their workforce into revenue-backed positions, which the contracted cities they serve pay for.

Cole-Tindall said the $30.2 million pays for about 80 deputies. She said the KCSO would have to reduce deputy presence in Fairwood, Snoqualmie Valley, Vashon Island, Skyway, White Center, Novelty Hill and Redmond Ridge.

“Response times may be delayed when there is an obvious danger to a person’s life, including in-progress crimes like burglaries, domestic violence and other violent crimes,” Cole-Tindall said. “Response times to non-life-threatening calls will be delayed or there may be no response at all.”

Property tax revenue

According to Dively, the general fund deficit is entirely due to the property tax revenue increase cap, but a newly introduced Senate bill addresses that cap. Senate Bill 5798, which had its first reading in the Senate on March 21, states that the Legislature finds that the arbitrary 1% limitation on the growth of property tax collection has severely inhibited the ability of the state, counties, cities and special purpose districts to provide critical services in the face of significant population growth and inflation.

The bill reads that modifying the limitation on property tax growth will restore the primary tool counties and cities use to fund law enforcement, the criminal justice system, fire departments and other services Washingtonians rely on.

According to a news release from the Senate Democrats, SB 5798 would move the yearly 1% increase to property tax rates, to instead increase by the combined rate of population growth plus inflation. However, local governments have the option to take a lower growth rate. According to the news release, the proposal exempts participants in the Property Tax Exemption for Senior Citizens and People with Disabilities program from paying the state property tax.

King County Councilmember for District 5, De’Sean Quinn, said that the general fund deficit is attributed to that 1% yearly property tax rate increase, and SB 5798 is a tool that addresses that. Quinn said it’s a tool that he thinks is a step in the right direction and could help reduce deficits in the future, but it doesn’t address the problem as a whole.

Quinn said inflation has risen, but revenue has not, which now, with the deficit, could affect services that King County citizens utilize. Quinn said he would tell citizens concerned about the extra cost associated with higher property taxes that this extra cost would go toward fundamental services everyone needs.

“I think for residents, their concerns are real, and in addition, their concerns about losing services are real as well,” Quinn said. “And I think for a while, we’ve been trying to reconcile that difference.”