Last Monday night (Oct. 4) our City Council dug a new $800,000 hole and proposed to fill it by increasing the utility tax to the maximum of 6 percent. That doubles the tax rate which currently is at 3 percent. The entire $800,000 will now be used to increase the Maple Valley Police Department by adding five new officers and giving a $6,000 reclassification to one employee and no portion will be available for other shortfalls. In a perfect world where funding is not a problem these actions are undoubtedly warranted. But the fact of the matter is this is an imperfect world and funding is an issue wherever we look. The city has a very large deficit that also needs to be filled. The question is where the cuts will be made. City staff has already been told there will be no cost of living increase this next year (the police get an increase of 5 percent), no merit increases and no additional staff. Our Finance Department was authorized an increase in staff in last year’s budget. That position was not filled and this year there was a retirement in that department. So the people who keep our financial position in order, process invoices and pay our bills are woefully understaffed. The commitment to increase the size of the police department is being made before the City Council has had an opportunity to review the city budget to assess the impact of cuts which will be necessary. The decision will be made before the City Council has had an opportunity to review and assess the impact to our city of the cuts which will be necessary.

At the Council meeting on Oct. 4 the business community came to make their concerns known of the impact on their businesses if the utility tax is doubled to 6 percent. In my opinion they were made to feel greedy and uncaring. Our businesses are suffering in this economic downturn, as are we all. Without a healthy business climate in Maple Valley the deficit hole will just get bigger. But we can’t lose sight of the additional cuts which will be facing this council when we try to fill the existing deficit hole in city funds. Will the Greater Maple Valley Community Center be funded? They serve many of our most vulnerable citizens, seniors and children. They squeeze a dime until it’s the size of a silver dollar, with the corresponding “bang for the buck.” Will we have to eliminate support for community events such as Maple Valley Days, the fireworks for the Fourth of July, and other programs through the city Parks Department? There have been no discussions on these issues by the City Council, which is called due diligence, yet the decision has apparently been made to use the entire utility tax increase to fund $800,000 increases for the Police Department.

I am not arguing that there is a need for more officers. I am arguing that there has been no due diligence. In 2011 we are going to be studying the feasibility of forming our own municipal police department and no longer contract with King County for our police officers. We may be studying the feasibility of forming a tri-city police force with Covington and Black Diamond. These actions will all happen after the fact, after we have dedicated 4 percent of the maximum 6 percent utility tax to support increases in our very expensive King County contract for services.

Safety is something we all take very seriously. We all want to feel safe in our homes and in our community. The closing of the King County Precinct at 231st and state Route 169 is scheduled to begin in January 2011 and may be completed by April 2011. The precinct has facilities that are still needed to provide services to the south county area so it is yet unclear whether or not they will simply abandon the building and the unincorporated areas it serves. In the meantime I am concerned that our citizens may end up sitting in cold homes without enough food to eat, facing foreclosures, but feeling very safe because there are five additional police officers serving in Maple Valley. Where is the balance? There will be a public hearing on the utility tax increase at 7 p.m. Monday Oct. 18 . I believe it is important for our City Council to hear your thoughts on our pending actions.

Linda A. Johnson

Maple Valley City Council member