The Green River Valley is under threat of flooding by the diminished capacity of the Howard Hanson Dam. Lots of work still remains to put a permanent fix in place at the dam and shore up levees along both the Green and Snoqualmie rivers. Now, it has come to light that a new threat to the Green and Snoqualmie River Valleys has emerged – taxes.

State law limits property taxes at the local level to a rate of $5.90 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. Tax increases by King County, the King County Library District, fire districts, park districts and others, combined with lower property values and annexations have put the King County Flood Control District in jeopardy. No time in recent memory has this state law been in jeopardy of being violated in King County – until now. King County staff estimate that significant areas in unincorporated King County will exceed the $5.90 cap by the end of this year.

State law prescribes an order in which taxes are reduced to get below the $5.90 cap. Unfortunately, the King County Flood Control District is at the bottom of this list, making it first to be eliminated. If no corrective action is taken to reduce tax rates in unincorporated King County by the end of this year, the Flood Control District cannot levy taxes in 2011.

Only two options are available: 1) reduce King County’s own taxes to get below the $5.90 cap or 2) have the King County Flood Control District “buy-out” other districts levying taxes in those areas. Reducing taxes is easy in the abstract. King County levies taxes in unincorporated areas for Roads, it also levies taxes county-wide for human services, parks expansion, parks maintenance, for an automated fingerprint system and of course, for flood control. The problem of course is political will to reduce any of these other taxing districts.

“Buying-out” other districts means that the King County Flood Control District would pay local parks, hospital, or fire districts not to levy their tax. The problem with this strategy is that county-wide taxpayers, who pay into the Flood District, would be paying for a tax cut for unincorporated residents.

The rate cap situation exists while the King County Council is debating whether to place a two-tenths of one percent sales tax on the November ballot to pay for the criminal justice system. If that tax increase passes and no other action is taken, the Flood Control District is still gone. In response, we have put forward a plan that is tax neutral to the average taxpayer, fully funds law enforcement, and would save the flood district.

The plan would put the sales tax on the ballot coupled with elimination of the parks expansion property tax, and reductions in the automated fingerprint system tax, flood control tax and the unincorporated levy. Bringing these levies down would keep the tax rate under the $5.90 cap and prevent elimination of the Flood Control District. The plan would sunset after three years and cost the average taxpayer four dollars total in that period.

Critics have said that by reducing the unincorporated levy, unincorporated residents get a larger tax cut than everyone else. That’s true. However, the aggregate property tax rate in unincorporated King County must be reduced as a matter of state law to get below the $5.90 cap to save the flood district. Arguably, unincorporated residents would be accepting specific cuts to their services to fund flood control – which benefits the entire region. The only other option is for regional taxpayers to “buy-out” taxes for unincorporated residents.

Our plan respects taxpayers who are struggling in this economy by not expecting them to pay more. It also protects the regional economic engine of the Green and Snoqualmie River Valleys by allowing the Flood Control District to continue the important work of shoring up our levies. Our proposal prioritizes public safety and solves the problems King County faces without asking taxpayers for a bailout. The only acceptable action at this point is to fund criminal justice and save the flood district without making taxpayers bear a greater burden.

Reagan Dunn represents southeast King County and Kathy Lambert represents northeast King County on the King County Council.