The King County Council will hold a Town Hall meeting in Renton on Wednesday to address the ongoing crisis in public-health financing.

About $11 million was cut this year from the budget of Public Health – Seattle and King County. The cuts were made as the county, like the state, copes with the deepening recession and the decline of key revenues, such as the sales tax.

Public Health was spared even deeper cuts when county Executive Ron Sims and the council placed about $6 million in service cuts in a so-called “lifeboat,” hoping that the state Legislature will give the county new taxing authority to raise more money for critical services.

If no help comes from the state, those cuts will go into effect at the end of June. Two pieces of state legislation could help, one that would allow the county to impose the utility tax in unincorporated areas and one that would authorize creation of a public health district that could levy its own taxes.

“Public health is a critical function of government and its services are the single greatest factor in maintaining our health,” said County Council member Julia Patterson, chair of the King County Board of Health and host of the Town Hall.

“This town hall will serve to inform the public about what public health is, why it’s relevant to every one of us, and why it’s being threatened,” said Patterson, who represents part of Renton on the County Council.

The Town Hall, a special meeting of the County Council’s Committee of the Whole, will be held at Valley Medical Center’s Medical Arts Center Auditorium, 400 S 43rd St., Renton.

The public can meet with council members at an informal reception starting at 6 p.m. The Town Hall will begin at 6:30 p.m.

James Apa, a Public Health spokesman, said the potential cuts in the $6 million include the response to the West Nile virus and other other diseases that are transmitted from animals to humans and the dental sealant program.

The cuts could affect services at the Renton Public Health Clinic, he said.

Public Health is responsible for directing a number of programs designed to protect, promote and provide for the health of the public. The programs include:

· Tracking infectious diseases like tuberculosis, influenza, and STDs, and helping coordinate the medical response;

· Working with grocery stores and restaurants to ensure that employees handle and store food properly and remove dangerous recalled products;

· Ensuring safe drinking water;

· Improving access to health care and providing direct services at 10 clinics; and

· Partnering with businesses and community groups to encourage healthy behaviors.

A panel of community health leaders that will discuss Public Health’s role in King County and the impacts of its current budgetary situation. The panel will include:

· Dr. David Fleming, Director, Public Health-Seattle and King County;

· Tom Trompeter, CEO of HealthPoint—formerly Community Health Centers of King County;

·Dr. Kathryn Beattie, Valley Medical Center’s Chief Medical Officer.

The panel will field questions from the audience and council members will take public testimony on any issue at the end of the program.