Flanked by charts illustrating declining revenues and growing costs at the county and surrounded by public-safety officials and King County Council members, King County Executive Dow Constantine proposed a sales tax increase of two-tenths of one percent to preserve existing public safety and health programs this afternoon. The tax would raise about $47 million in 2011, Constantine said. The estimated 2011 budget shortfall is $60 million. The measure would appear on the August 17 primary-election ballot.

Constantine said he had also put measures in place to reduce costs, including a hiring freeze that has kept 164 positions vacant and a total prohibition on county-funded travel outside the state.

Noting that the sales tax is one of the few remaining revenue sources the county has at its disposal (the other is property tax), Constantine said it would "preserve crucial public safety and health programs" that would otherwise be cut.

"I recognize that this poses an extremely difficult position both for our council and the voters." Constantine said his tax proposal would not restore services that have already been cut or fix any of the county's infrastructure.

Constantine noted that the tax won't fix the long-term structural problems that have led to ongoing county budget shortfalls—namely, the fact that property tax growth is capped by law at one percent. "This measure does not avoid the need for substantial budget cuts in 2011," he said. "The county's general fund will have budget shortfalls in 2012 and beyond."

Among other programs, the tax would preserve:

• Funding for as many as 82 positions in the sheriff's department, allowing the department to investigate property crimes, provide officers at public schools, maintain current investigation levels for major crimes, and other programs Sheriff Sue Rahr previously said she would have to cut without additional revenue.

• Funding for as many as 36 deputy prosecuting attorneys in the prosecutor's office;

• King County Superior court programs like family court facilitators and recidivism reduction programs;

• Programs that provide alternatives to jail for kids and adults;

• Funding for public health centers; and

• Funding for human services, including domestic survivor support services, sexual assault victim services, and senior centers.