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Money for homeless, gang unit, orca study in King County budget set for vote

Seattle Times - 11/13/2018

Nov. 13--The Metropolitan King County Council is set to vote Tuesday on a two-year budget that would direct money to homeless shelters, a gang unit, a bail-reform project and a study on how wastewater is affecting orcas, among other allocations.

The $11 billion-plus budget for 2019 and 2020 -- proposed by County Executive Dow Constantine in September and tweaked by the council in recent weeks -- also would steer $100 million in newly issued bonds toward affordable-housing projects near transit hubs.

Looking ahead, the budget would require work on a plan to provide passenger-only ferry service across Lake Washington, between Kenmore and Seattle.

"This is a balanced budget done on time working together," budget chair Councilmember Dave Upthegrove said in an interview Monday. "With so much discord and chaos in Washington, D.C., local governments need to step up."

Fleshing out Constantine's proposal, the council intends to combat homelessness by directing $2 million to a shelter on the Eastside, $3 million to a shelter in Federal Way, $4 million to a shelter on First Hill and up to $6 million to a shelter at the downtown Seattle jail, according to a budget summary.

The budget would require a progress report on the shelter at the jail, which has yet to open.

The $100 million in bonds for affordable housing projects, under a council plan, would be backed by lodging taxes.

The council intends to approve money earmarked by Constantine for a new gang unit. Sheriff Mitzi Johanknecht has lobbied for the unit, partly to address deadly violence between rival gangs in Federal Way and Burien.

The budget would require a study on what the county's wastewater system is doing to marine life in the area, including orcas and salmon.

Last year's West Point wastewater-treatment plant disaster sent nearly 250 million gallons of untreated stormwater and sewage into Puget Sound but caused little to no damage to water quality, according to a scientific review released by the county in February.

Surplus dollars related to wastewater and marine services would cover the orca study and the ferry planning, Upthegrove said.

The council intends to put $400,000 aside for a nonprofit to pay bail for indigent defendants, he added. The move could save the county money on jail services while starting to address the inequities of the bail system, Upthegrove said.

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