No end in sight with King County budget cuts
SEATTLE - A projected $68 million deficit in next year's King County budget could devastate funding for the criminal justice and law enforcement system - and there's no end in sight, several grim-faced officials said Thursday.
King County Executive Ron Sims says the deficit in next year's budget is part of a funding crisis for counties statewide. But the effects will hit populous King County hard because of its size.
And they will hit people where it hurts, criminal justice officials said.
"If your house is burglarized, unless the loss is more than $10,000 we won't have the resources to do a follow up investigation," said King County Sheriff Sue Rahr. "If your identity is stolen we won't have the resources to do a follow up investigation or arrest a suspect."
And that's not all, she said, adding, "We won't be able to investigate the 150 cold cases for homicide still pending in King County."
For anyone who thinks those warnings are just scare tactics, Prosecutor Dan Satterberg had this message:
"The citizens of King County need to know the proposed cuts are both massive and perpetual with no end in sight," he said. "The cuts will devastate the entire criminal justice system in King County."
The King County jail faces cuts too, which means that criminals could get out early.
To put the size of the cuts in perspective, Sims described it like this:
"You could close my office ... the budget office, strike out all the money that goes to human services and we would still not be able to meet the needs of the criminal justice system," he said.
Larry Phillips, King County Council's budget chairman, didn't offer any hope that a funding source could be found at the last minute, either.
"In terms of 2009 there's probable not much we can do," he said. "The revenue has fallen out of the bottom; we are just going to have to absorb serious cuts."
King County Executive Ron Sims says the deficit in next year's budget is part of a funding crisis for counties statewide. But the effects will hit populous King County hard because of its size.
And they will hit people where it hurts, criminal justice officials said.
"If your house is burglarized, unless the loss is more than $10,000 we won't have the resources to do a follow up investigation," said King County Sheriff Sue Rahr. "If your identity is stolen we won't have the resources to do a follow up investigation or arrest a suspect."
And that's not all, she said, adding, "We won't be able to investigate the 150 cold cases for homicide still pending in King County."
For anyone who thinks those warnings are just scare tactics, Prosecutor Dan Satterberg had this message:
"The citizens of King County need to know the proposed cuts are both massive and perpetual with no end in sight," he said. "The cuts will devastate the entire criminal justice system in King County."
The King County jail faces cuts too, which means that criminals could get out early.
To put the size of the cuts in perspective, Sims described it like this:
"You could close my office ... the budget office, strike out all the money that goes to human services and we would still not be able to meet the needs of the criminal justice system," he said.
Larry Phillips, King County Council's budget chairman, didn't offer any hope that a funding source could be found at the last minute, either.
"In terms of 2009 there's probable not much we can do," he said. "The revenue has fallen out of the bottom; we are just going to have to absorb serious cuts."