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King County Executive Dow Constantine is preparing a county budget proposal to slash over $85 million from critical public safety and judicial services, including the King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO), Prosecuting Attorney’s Office (PAO), Department of Public Defense (DPD), Superior and District Courts, Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention (DAJD) and Jail Health Services (JHS), according to budget documents obtained by “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

Under Constantine鈥檚 leadership and a Democrat-controlled council, King County鈥檚 spending ballooned nearly 45%, far outpacing population growth and leading to a staggering $150 million budget shortfall for 2026-2027. Rather than acknowledging reckless spending as the culprit, Constantine鈥檚 office is blaming the budget crisis on the state鈥檚 1% cap on annual property tax increases — conveniently ignoring that it had no issue funding progressive pet projects.

“This deficit is entirely due to the state law that limits property tax revenue increases to 1% per year, plus the value of new construction. This law has been in effect for 23 years,” King County Budget Director Dwight Dively wrote to the King County County Council in a February 3 memo.

Though he noted property taxes account for roughly 60% of the general fund, the deficit is not due to a property tax levy lid.

“King County鈥檚 budget has grown from $9 billion, at the beginning of the 2015/2016 biennium, to $17.5 billion by the end of the 2023/2024 biennium,” King County Council member Reagan Dunn explained to “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. “Calculating for inflation, King County鈥檚 budget today represents nearly $13 billion in 2015 dollars 鈥� a 44% increase in funding 鈥� while its population has increased by just 17.6% during the same period. King County doesn鈥檛 have a revenue crisis. It has an efficiency crisis and a priority crisis.”

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How much is the executive’s office proposing to defund from public safety?

The “large budget cuts” from the King County budget will hit public safety the hardest.

KCSO is targeted for a $30.2 million cut, with $15.5 coming from each of the budgets for PAO and King County Superior Court. DAJD and the King County District Court would lose $7.5 million each. The DPD is proposed to lose $3 million.

“We know cuts of this magnitude would devastate many county programs. It is not an exaggeration that the effects would be the most serious since the Great Depression. The county has had to make budget reductions during recessions in the past, but at least some of those could be restored once the economy revived. Cuts made to balance the 2026-2027 budget cannot be avoided and will not be restored without meaningful revenue reform,” Dively explained in the memo.

Prosecuting Attorney’s Office (PAO) responds

In a memo to her staff, King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion wrote, “The size of the PAO鈥檚 proposed target reduction is serious, and I acknowledge that this news may cause stress or concern.” She reiterated that this is a “proposed” budget and promises to “work closely with all PAO leaders to identify potential budget and workload strategies that allow us to meet my top priority during this upcoming budget cycle 鈥� that we keep our PAO Team fully intact.”

“The PAO will continue to show our work and demonstrate why public safety and public service must be King County’s top priorities going into the 2026-27 budget cycle,” Manion continued.

It’s not just public safety facing defunding.

“(T)he General Fund-supported programs of Public Health and the Department of Community and Human Services are entirely discretionary, even though they provide critical services for our residents who are most in need. The budget reduction targets would eliminate all General Fund revenue going to these departments,” Dively said in the memo.

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Sheriff is being used to promote property tax increases to help King County budget woes

Rather than reign in spending, the Executive’s Office is leveraging these drastic budget cuts to pressure the state legislature into passing . The Democrat-backed bill the way inflation is calculated and allows a municipality to raise property taxes by 3%.

It appears King County will strategically exploit concerns about public safety to persuade lawmakers to pass the bill, using the threat of reduced law enforcement and judicial services as a political bargaining chip.

KCSO deputies caught wind of the proposed budget cuts, prompting Constantine鈥檚 appointed sheriff, Patti Cole-Tindall, to issue a memo in an attempt to calm fears.

“Please know we are working diligently to minimize the effects of this to employees and at this time we do not anticipate any reductions in staffing,” Cole-Tindall told staff, according to a letter obtained by sister-station 成人X站 Newsradio’s James Lynch. “I will be working with our leadership team to do everything we can to mitigate impacts on KCSO and the communities we serve.”

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Can the county still claim a housing affordability crisis when they plan to raise property taxes?

If the department loses the funding in the King County budget proposal, there is zero chance of staff not being cut. The bulk of the budget goes toward personnel, making layoffs inevitable. That reality is likely another calculated pressure tactic to push HB 1334 through the legislature.

“We are working closely with state legislators on efforts to lift the 1% property tax cap. If successful, this will help increase the general fund, which in turn will help support how we as an agency are funded,” Cole-Tindall said.

But there鈥檚 no guarantee that any additional revenue would prevent specific cuts to public safety. And if HB 1334 passes, the executive and the council will face an awkward contradiction: how do they continue claiming there鈥檚 a housing affordability crisis while simultaneously raising property taxes?

Meanwhile, Budget Director Dwight Dively told the council and its staff that over the next several months, he will work with agencies to “identify budget reductions to meet the targets, along with descriptions of the effects on programs and staff.”

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