The city of Maple Valley is staring at a public safety problem and the proposed remedy calls for a challenging decision for elected officials.

The problem in the simplest terms is the King County Sheriff’s Office will be reducing deputies and closing Precinct No. 3 early next year, which is located in Maple Valley.

King County Executive Dow Constantine directed Sheriff Sue Rahr to cut $7 million from her budget to help fill a $60 million hole in the county budget.

The executive announced Sept. 19 the sheriff would lay off 28 deputies. Other deputies and detectives will be reassigned.

Maple Valley and Covington contract city police services from the sheriff’s office.

The proposed cuts in the sheriff’s office budget prompted Maple Valley City Manager David Johnston to assess the impact on public safety in the city.

Johnston directed the Public Safety Oversight Committee to review the police issues facing the city in view of the reductions in the sheriff’s office deputies.

The proposal presented to the council Monday was to hire three more police officers from the sheriff’s office, add one community service officer and increase a detective assigned to the city from part time to full time.

The total cost adds up to $792,000.

To pay for the police personnel the council is being asked to approve a 3 percent increase in the utility tax, which according to Finance Director Tony McCarthy, would bring in about $800,000.

Johnston said with the sheriff’s office proposed cuts in staff and closing the precinct, the city will see a loss of backup for an already small city police force of 11.

“We understand what the county and sheriff’s office is doing,” Johnston said. “But it is going to impact us. Losing the backup is a significant level of service we have taken advantage of for 13 years and now it goes away. It is a public safety concern to our citizens and employee safety issue with our police officers.”

With the precinct closing the city will also have to move the emergency operations center that is currently located on the second floor of the precinct. The center is a place for officials to gather if an emergency or disaster hits the area.

Johnston said the conference room at City Hall is being considered, but a generator would have to be installed along with other modifications.

Covington City Manager Derek Matheson said in 2007 Covington imposed a utility tax and directed a large portion of the funds to public safety.

Johnston is asking the council to approve the utility tax increase by Nov. 1 because it takes 60 days for the city to see the funds.

“We have an obligation to show we are weighing the public safety needs of our community,” Johnston said. “A level of service is going away and we need to react.”

The city manager noted the city’s population is growing and so is crime.

According to the U. S. Census Bureau, Maple Valley’s 2009 population is 21,020. Covington is listed at 18,492.

“Whether we like it or not, we have bad people living in our community,” Johnston said.

Councilman Bill Allison said, “We have to understand our No. 1 duty is their (public) safety. When I call the police I want them there in a reasonable time.”

Deputy Mayor Victoria Laise Jonas said, “This is unexpected. We’ve all seen what our staffing levels are and it is shocking…. None of us wants to raise taxes…. We really have no choice.”

Councilwoman Linda Johnson said the staff presentation was compelling, but noted the council is facing a “big responsibility” committing all the utility tax revenue to the police department.

“I think we need a public hearing on this,” Johnson said.

Bryan Kelley, owner of Valley Automotive Electric and a board member for the Maple Valley-Black Diamond Chamber of Commerce, spoke against the tax increase at the meeting during public comment.

Kelley said Wednesday by phone, “My feeling is this is more of a county issue. The first step is we should go to the county rather than immediately raise taxes.”

The city manager stated a public hearing would be scheduled for Oct. 18.

Johnston said the city will continue to look at police model options. The cities of Burien and Kenmore are looking at creating city police departments and dropping their contracts with the county. A city must give the county 18 months notice before ending the contract.

The city manager is taking part in the Kenmore study. Johnston is requesting the council make a decision on the direction for a city police model by June 2011.

Matheson said he will also be watching the results of the Kenmore and Burien studies.