In the wake of a 2009 King County budget that started with a $93.4 million gap, the county’s budget director warned Monday the county’s general fund faces a potential shortfall of $40 million to $50 million in 2010.

Monday’s revenue forecast, heard in the King County Council’s Budget and Fiscal Management Committee, prompted the committee chair to again call on the state Legislature to provide counties across the state with the revenue tools they need to provide essential services.

“King County — and counties throughout Washington — are facing hard choices,” said council Budget Chair Larry Gossett in a press release. “Declining revenues are forcing us to decide which of the programs that protect the lives, health and safety of county residents will be reduced or eliminated. The state Legislature is still working on a proposal that would provide counties with the revenue options that will allow us to fund these programs. Without those options, the only choice we may have is to stop providing the services.”

Bob Cowan, director of the county’s Office of Management and Budget, Monday told the council Budget Committee that he is forecasting a drop in property tax revenue and up to a 5.3 percent decline in sales tax revenue.

The general fund supports the day-to-day operation of essential county services that have no other dedicated funding source. The regional criminal justice system accounts for more than 70 percent of general fund expenditures, according to the press release.