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Summary
King County Executive Shannon Braddock issued the following statement after the King County Council passed a $20 billion biennial budget that adopts major components of her 200-Day Plan and reflects key investments in public safety, housing and homelessness, and behavioral health while preparing for future federal funding uncertainties.
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“This budget reflects King County’s values, which means delivering a balanced plan that protects essential services, increases efficiency, and reinvests in programs that most benefit our residents.
I would like to thank the King County Council for their hard work in passing the budget, with special thanks to Budget Chair Rod Dembowski for his leadership. This year was especially challenging, as the county faced the largest General Fund budget deficit in our history. I’m proud that we were able to protect core services while also establishing contingency funding. However, we know that rising costs for government services and continued uncertainty at the federal level, particularly regarding homelessness funding and cuts to safety-net programs targeting our most vulnerable populations, will create financial challenges in the future.
This newly approved budget reflects many of the priorities I outlined in my 200-day plan, including protecting key services, enhancing public safety, safeguarding our emergency preparedness efforts, increasing transit access, and resisting harmful federal funding rollbacks. Thanks to our voters, King County Parks and Emergency Medical Services will continue, and we have renewed the MIDD tax to fund behavioral health services in King County.
At its core, this budget is about keeping King County a place where every person can thrive, and I’m so pleased that, in partnership with the King County Council, we could deliver on that promise.”
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