The King County Council on Monday closed a $93 million shortfall with unanimous adoption of a 2009 King County budget that protects the public’s highest priorities of public safety, health and quality of life.

However, members said action is still needed in the next session of the state Legislature to lift restrictions on the revenue sources provided to counties in order to avoid facing the same budget shortfalls next year.

One option is to allow counties to impose a utility tax, something they can’t do now, unlike cities.

The council acted on a budget presented earlier by county Executive Ron Sims that had raised concerns in the county’s public health human services community about the potential for devastating service and program cuts because of the budget crisis.

However, many of those services are now only funded for the first six months of 2009.

The budget also increases in fares to ride a Metro bus.

“A public safety crisis has been averted as we substantially altered the executive’s proposal and passed a 2009 budget that prioritizes the safety, health, and quality of life of King County citizens,” said council member Larry Phillips, chair of the 2009 Budget Review and Adoption Committee. “Now the hard work truly begins if we are to prevent catastrophic cuts in 2010 to criminal justice, public health and human services.”

The council adopted a $4.9 billion budget with a general fund of $627.8 million that makes cuts to the sheriff, prosecuting attorney and the courts, provides only six months of funding to many public health programs, and closes county government for 10 days next year with an unpaid employee furlough.

The budget also provides only six months of funding or $3.5 million for programs mandated by the state but not accompanied with any revenues.

To fund the restoration of the public’s priorities, the budget makes more than $10 million in one-time reductions to funds for future maintenance needs, some technology projects and lower-priority programs. These restorations enabled the council to continue funding for one more year for such programs as Drug Diversion Court, Unified Family Court Services, Mental Health Court, sheriff’s storefronts in unincorporated communities, public health centers and others.

Highlights of the 2009 King County budget:

PUBLIC SAFETY: This budget restores full-year funding for successful programs for treatment and alternatives to incarceration for which Sims had proposed funding for only six months, including many parts of the council’s successful Adult Justice Operational Master Plan and Juvenile Justice Operational Master Plan that since 2001 have helped avoided more than $250 million in criminal justice costs with no increase in crime.

• Restores 19 positions to the Sheriff’s office that will:

• Keeps open all Sheriff’s storefront offices in the unincorporated areas of the county.

• Saves the sheriff’s participation in regional drug, firearm, and gang task forces.

• Restores funding for major accident detectives who also support major crime scene investigations such as homicides, ChildFind detectives, K-9 services and other important specialized positions.

• Restores full-year funding for street booking at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, so that local law enforcement in south King County can book inmates directly into the RJC without having to drive to downtown Seattle.

PUBLIC HEALTH: In order to avert some of the most significant health threats to residents, this budget restores full-year funding for some public health programs placed in the Executive’s six-month strategy, including:

• Full–year funding for all public health centers,

• Services provided by community-based organizations that reduce youth violence,

• Programs for control of sexually transmitted disease,

• Services for 200 low-income seniors to help them manage chronic disease and avoid placement in expensive long-term care facilities, and

• Services that ensure that children complete their immunization schedule.

The budget funds all family planning services for the first nine months of 2009 while the county seeks a revenue solution from the Legislature. The council has also requested that the Executive develop alternative options for the delivery of family planning services in 2009 and beyond.

This budget funds some public health services for six months of 2009, while the county works with the Legislature to develop revenues totaling $4.5 million to fund these programs for the remainder of 2009. If no support is found, these services will be reduced or entirely eliminated on July 1:

• The child care health program, providing 2,745 visits to child care facilities and 112 training sessions for child care providers that help to ensure the health and safety of children,

• Regulation of small drinking water systems,

• Tuberculosis control services that reduce the development of drug-resistant TB,

• Death investigations by the medical examiner,

• Public health laboratory testing services,

• Investigation of communicable diseases,

• Support provided by public health nurses to 75 teen mothers and their children, which is proven to reduce future criminal justice costs,

• Support for 1,200 families of children with special health and developmental needs, and

• Provision of dental sealants to 900 second-grade children.

QUALITY OF LIFE: This budget affirms that the King County Fair, founded in 1863 to promote the county’s agricultural heritage, is an essential part of the rural quality of life and the lives of young people for whom the annual event provides a cherished showcase. This budget restores funding for fair operations for 2009. The council on Monday will act on a motion that calls for a task force to explore ways to boost revenues and attendance in order to make the fair more self-sustaining in the future and less dependent upon support from the general fund.

• This budget assures full funding for 4-H programs in 2009.

• This budget keeps bus service on the streets to meet record demand from riders, and keeps the promise for service increases made to voters who supported the “Transit Now” measure in 2006 – despite economic turmoil that has led to a dramatic plunge in the sales tax revenues that support Metro Transit. Accompanied by a mid-biennium supplemental budget for public transit, this budget closes also closes a shortfall of about $90 million in the transit budget by:

• Reducing Metro’s annual operating expenses by $28 million,

• Scaling back or deferring entirely $12.8 million in Metro capital projects,

• Reducing Metro’s annual capital fund by $40 million, as proposed by the executive, and

• Raising transit fares by 25 cents in many categories on Feb. 1, with a similar 25-cent increase to take effect on Jan. 1, 2010, generating $9.5 million in 2009 and a cumulative $22 million a year from 2010 onwards and restoring the target of bus fares defraying about 25 percent of transit operating expenses.