{"id":2266693,"date":"2024-06-13T08:35:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-13T12:35:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/constantine-blames-state-property-tax-protection-for-hindering-35m-shortfall-fix\/"},"modified":"2024-06-13T08:39:30","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T12:39:30","slug":"constantine-blames-state-property-tax-protection-for-hindering-35m-shortfall-fix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/constantine-blames-state-property-tax-protection-for-hindering-35m-shortfall-fix\/","title":{"rendered":"Constantine cites state property tax cap as obstacle in addressing $35M budget gap"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fconstantine-blames-state-property-tax-protection-for-hindering-35m-shortfall-fix%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2266693&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>King County Executive Dow Constantine has blamed Washington&#8217;s tax cap for \u200can anticipated $35 million general fund\u2063 shortfall in 2027 as \u2063he discussed the financial and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/massachusetts-gov-charlie-baker-selected-as-next-ncaa-president\/\" title=\"Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker Selected As Next NCAA President\">social issues facing<\/a> the county during his 2024 state of \u200bthe \u200ccounty address. The address, which \u200bwas delivered at a King County Council meeting, covered various topics such\u2063 as behavioral health, affordable housing, homelessness, and transportation. Constantine highlighted the financial challenges posed by \u200dthe \u2062tax cap, particularly regarding the impending deficit\u2062 that \u200ccould affect the county&#8217;s ability to \u200c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/oakland-property-taxes-among-highest-in-california-residents-frustrated\/\" title=\"High property taxes in Oakland, California leave residents frustrated.\">fund essential services<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>(The Center Square) \u2013 King County Executive Dow Constantine is continuing to fault Washington\u2019s tax cap as the county prepares for a $35 million general fund shortfall in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Constantine delivered his 2024 state of the county address during a King County Council meeting on Tuesday. The county executive touched on topics including behavioral health, affordable housing, homelessness and transportation. <\/p>\n<p>Constantine also mentioned the looming general fund deficit that could impact the county\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cdc-quietly-changed-basis-of-essential-public-health-services-from-research-to-equity\/\" title=\"CDC Quietly Changed Basis Of Essential Public Health Services From \u2018Research\u2019 To \u2018Equity\u2019\">public health services<\/a> in particular. He has mentioned a tax cap enforced by Washington numerous times as a hindrance to King County collecting property taxes. <\/p>\n<p>Since 2001, the state has instituted a 1% annual cap on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/chinas-trade-surplus-hits-annual-record-in-2021-saw-double-digit-growth-in-exports-every-month\/\" title=\"China\u2019s Trade Surplus Hits Annual Record in 2021 \u2014 Saw Double-Digit Growth in Exports Every Month\">property tax increases<\/a>. Washington counties do not have the ability to impose business and utility taxes, unlike cities and the state. <\/p>\n<p>Constantine notes that King County\u2019s population grew by about 34% over the last 20 years, while inflation rose over 90%, causing the county to fall behind inflation and population growth to the tune of $400 million dollars per year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat means a whole lot of services people expect, like roads and bridges, like help for the homeless, like gun violence prevention, and more, are continually at risk,\u201d Constantine said in his <a href=\"https:\/\/kingcounty.gov\/en\/dept\/executive\/governance-leadership\/king-county-executive\/speeches\/2024-sotc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>speech<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Constantine added that the county has managed to keep these services in place, albeit at a level that is not sufficient enough to meet the need, thanks to special levies implemented by King County.<\/p>\n<p>The $35 million general fund shortfall could impact public health clinics in King County in particular. These clinics are one of the last general fund services not mandated by Washington state law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur public health clinics and related health programs serve nearly 80,000 people \u2013 simply put, these clinics and support services provide essential care to our community\u2019s most vulnerable \u2013 those who fall through the cracks of the U.S. healthcare system,\u201d Constantine said.<\/p>\n<p>As King County officials begin to construct the 2025 budget later this year, Constantine said he hopes to be able to propose a solution to preserve care and bolster University of Washington Medicine.<\/p>\n<p>The proposed budget for 2025 is expected to be introduced sometime in September.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>King County Executive Dow Constantine blames Washington&#8217;s tax cap for a projected $35 million shortfall in 2025. During his 2024 state of the county address at a council meeting, he discussed various issues, including behavioral health<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2266694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24014160623172-1-1-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2266693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24014160623172-1-1-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2266693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2266693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2266693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2266694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2266693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2266693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2266693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}