 It’s an important question! One answer is by joining housing advocates, community leaders, and elected officials at one of the many education and advocacy events next week as part of the 8th annual Affordable Housing Week. With tours, workshops, and informational events every day, you can be a part of the countywide effort to ignite an unprecedented investment in affordable housing across our region.
Check out the full schedule of events:
Celebrate Cinco de Mayo in Redmond on Sunday!
 Join Centro Cultural Mexicano at the Redmond Downtown Park this Sunday, May 7 from 11:00am - 6:00pm for a Cinco de Mayo celebration! This free, family-friendly cultural celebration will include a variety of live Mexican music, food, arts and crafts vendors, as well as free COVID-19, flu, and childhood vaccinations. Don’t miss this exciting and joyful celebration of Mexican history and culture!
King County budget shortfalls are looming: take the community budget survey today
 At about 14% of the total budget, the King County General Fund pays for functions of county government, such as the Sheriff's office, and critical day-to-day services that are not supported by dedicated revenues. Nearly three quarters of the General Fund (72%) goes to support state-mandated criminal justice and public safety services. The remainder pays for other programs, such as health and human services. Click on the image to learn more.
In the coming years, King County’s General Fund will be facing a $100 million shortfall. In response, King County will be considering an adjustment to this fall’s mid-biennial budget that will include cuts to General Fund programs. These advance cuts will help prevent deeper cuts in the upcoming 2025-26 biennial budget and give time for affected programs to wind down.
These budget cuts are required because of Washington state’s regressive tax system that force local governments to rely on limited resources like property and sales tax to fund essential services.
In advance of making these hard budget choices, King County has launched a community survey to hear from you about what discretionary programs you want to prioritize. This feedback will inform the Executive and King County Council’s policy and funding decisions.
King County Council approves human services levy renewal
On Tuesday, the King County Council unanimously sent the renewal of the Veterans, Seniors, and Human Services Levy to the August ballot for consideration by voters. The levy, which voters first approved in 2005 and has been renewed twice, would continue to provide funding for health, human services, and housing for veterans and servicemembers and their families, seniors and their caregivers, and resilient communities.
The renewal would create a new six-year levy with an initial property tax rate of $0.10 per $1,000 of assessed value in 2024, which is the same rate as the levy that voters approved in 2018. It would generate approximately $564.7 million between 2024 and 2029 and would cost the owner of a median-valued home in King County approximately $83.75 based on 2024 estimated home values.
The levy will be on the August 1, 2023 ballot for voters to approve or reject.
Spread the word!
Please forward this email widely and invite others to sign-up to my email updates to receive important and timely information for District 6 constituents.
Sincerely,
 Claudia Balducci
King County Council
District 6
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