Metropolitan King County Council 516 Third Ave., Rm. 1200 Seattle, WA 98104 Phone: 206-296-1000 Toll Free: 800-325-6165 TTY/TDD: 206-296-1024 Fax: 206-296-0198 council@kingcounty.gov |
Oct. 16, 2008 King County Board of Health identifies 12 ways state Legislature can create stable funding for Public Health State and local options would replace funding lost in 2001 from passage of I-695In the face of a proposed $19 million cut to public health spending, the King County Board of Health today proposed 12 ways that the Washington State Legislature can provide public health programs with the long-term, stable funding source they need to operate.
"The Legislature itself has concluded that the state public health system is under-funded by more than $600 million each biennium, and that the lack of a stable source of funding is making us less and less able to protect lives and health," said Board of Health chair and King County Council chair Julia Patterson. “Today we’ve laid out a dozen options for the Legislature to dedicate a new revenue stream for public health, or allow the people of King County to raise those needed monies locally.”
The funding options identified by the Board of Health fall into two categories: local option revenue authorities and statewide revenue sources. “Statewide funding for public health is preferable, in my opinion, because disease knows no boundaries,” said Patterson.
Local Options. Local jurisdictions cannot raise revenues without specific authority from the State. The Board of Health today identified six potential local option revenues that the State Legislature could grant to counties:
• Countywide Public Health District with independent property tax authority similar to current authorities for local hospital districts.
• Countywide real estate excise tax, an existing unused local authority that is currently restricted to purchase and maintenance of conservation areas. By majority vote, the Legislature could expand allowable use of this revenue source to public health.
• Countywide utility tax.
• Motor vehicle excise tax. Repeal of the MVET in 2000 led to a loss of $10 million for public health.
• Bottled water or bottled beverage fee.
• Hazardous substance tax, now imposed on 8,000 petroleum, pesticide, and chemical products, with roughly half of the revenue funding hazardous waste cleanup. The tax could be increased to fund public health.
Statewide Revenue Sources which would require a two-thirds majority of the state Legislature, an advisory ballot of the people, and e-mail notification to registered interested parties:
• Adoption of a product-specific sales tax to fund public health, such as a sales tax on alcohol, tobacco, insurance premiums, or car rentals.
• Possible elimination of the sales tax exemption on one of five products or services: medical services, prescription drugs, some consumer services, candy and gum, and/or elective cosmetic surgery.
When voters first adopted Initiative 695 in 1999, they also repealed a major source of funding for public health in this state, the Motor Vehicle Excise Tax. While the initiative was struck down by the courts, the state Legislature codified the MVET into law. Since then, the Legislature has not identified a permanent source of revenue to replace it. The Legislature has provided some discretionary funding to replace the lost revenues, but this funding has been uncertain from year to year and has not grown to meet the rising costs of providing critical public health services or the additional decline of federal funding. Local governments have been left to fill the gap from their general funds.
The 2008 budget for Public Health was $193 million, of which $31.8 million was supported by the King County general fund. With a projected gap of $93 million between revenues and expenses in the County’s proposed 2009 budget, the Executive reports that Public Health is facing the loss of $19 million in services.
Dr. David Fleming, Director and Health Officer for Public Health - Seattle and King County, today outlined details of the proposed budget, including $11.5 million in new efficiencies and restructured programs to partially close the budget gap, and $8 million in reductions that will have especially serious impacts on the health of the community.
Key programs and services affected include those that protect the entire community, including elimination of the Zoonotic Disease program and the Drinking Water Program. They also include reductions in Public Health Laboratory services, Communicable Disease Program investigation and control activities, Tuberculosis Program prevention activities, Child Care Health Program services, Emergency Medical Services, and investigators in the Medical Examiner’s Office.
Other cuts are proposed to programs that provide essential health services to the most vulnerable people in King County, where the burden of illness and premature death falls disproportionately on low income and communities of color. The cuts are wide-ranging, and include:
• Closure of family planning clinics at White Center, North and Columbia Public Health Centers, and closure of the Northshore Public Health Center.
• Elimination of preventive Oral Health Program screenings and sealants in King County outside of Seattle, eight Child and Family Commission programs serving high risk youth and parents, funding for a Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention program that serves low-income older adults, and sexually transmitted disease services at the Division of Youth Services.
• Reduction in safety net funding to community health centers and other safety net clinics; residual capacity to provide immunization services; Jail Health services at the Regional Justice Center, and core business operations programs.
“These proposed reductions will have a significant impact of the health of the community, and reflect a chronic funding problem for Public Health at the local, state and federal levels,” said Dr. Fleming. “Without a stable, long-term funding solution, the problem will only get worse, as we reduce these services and take even deeper cuts in the years ahead.”
The two health professionals on the Board of Health, Dr. George Counts and Dr. Bud Nicola, will present the Board’s findings and proposals to the King County Council’s Budget Review and Adoption Committee at a special meeting next Wednesday, October 22, at 9:30 a.m. in the County Council chambers.
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