Human services providers are warning that the financial crisis hitting King County government could shred the “safety net” for thousands of county residents, including hundreds who live in Renton.
In fact, if the state Legislature doesn’t provide King County and other counties in the state with new ways to pay for human services and public health, the county could get out of the human services business altogether in three years.
First, the intent is to get help from Olympia, according to Carolyn Duncan, a spokeswoman for King County Executive Ron Sims. One possibility is a utility tax, which cities, but not counties, can impose.
The loss of all county funding is possible, “if we can’t get some relief,” Duncan said.
Sims will unveil his budget proposal on Monday, when specifics about cuts will become clear. It’s possible, based on earlier estimates, that hu-
man-services agencies will see their county support cut by about $7.8 million in 2009.
For the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, the cuts could mean the loss of 20 percent, or about $500,000, of the agency’s $2.5 million yearly operating budget.
Dollarwise, the cut in the agency’s budget is likely the largest for any such agency in the county.
Such a cut would certainly require a reduction in services provided to victims of sexual assault and abuse and their families, including those who live in Renton, according to the agency’s long-time director, Mary Ellen Stone.
The agency employs 35 staffers, including therapists.
In 2007, the agency, which is not affiliated with King County government, served about 2,500 clients, ranging from one-time crisis calls to long-term support services.
Stone estimates the agency, which is based in Renton, provided about $150,000 in services to Renton residents in 2007. The City of Renton also provides funding to the agency, about $37,000 this year.
Mayor Denis Law said the City of Renton has always been sensitive to the needs of human-services agencies. But he points out that the city’s budget faces the same pressures as the county’s. Those pressures include falling tax revenues and increasing costs. Because of that, it’s difficult for cities to replace what county government can no longer provide, he said.
But, Law said Renton residents always respond to the real needs of their neighbors, through their own private giving and through the many partnerships in the city.
“Frankly, it’s going to put a greater burden on the general public to step up and help the less fortunate,” Law said. “In our community, they already do that.”
But, he said, “they will have to do more.”
Stone’s agency is not alone in facing county budget cuts.
By his rough estimate, Richard Brooks, executive director of the Renton Area Youth and Family Services, said his agency could face county budget cuts of somewhere between $50,000 and $60,000.
“The big hope is that the county will get the state to authorize some other taxing authority to offset cuts to human servies and other county departments,” he said.
RAYS is using money from the Veterans and Human Services Levy to provide home visits to new parents.
The county has been a stable source of funding for more than 20 years, he said. Now, the environment has changed, he said.
“It looks pretty bleak for the next year or two,” he said.
Stone said the money from King County “undergirds” a lot of the services her agency provides in Renton and throughout the county.
Stone, who next year will mark her 30th year as the agency’s director, said this is the “biggest hit” the agency has received from county funding.
What’s different this year from other budget cuts is that it’s possible the county could cut all funding for human services without new revenue “tools” from the state Legislature.
“There is sort of no hope,” she said.
For now, all Stone and other providers can do is wait for Sims’ Monday speech. It’s “very frustrating,” she said, and for three years the threat of severe budget cuts could hang over agencies.
Stone fears for the financial stability of the human services network in King County.
“I believe this is an absolute crisis,” she said. “The entire system is at risk.”
Forum on funding
The South King Council on Human Services and other local human services organizations are hosting a Legislative Candidates Forum from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday at Armondo’s Restaurant, 310 Wells Ave. S., Renton, to discuss the crisis in human-services funding.
