Summary

Saying he will lead by example to contain the cost of government, King County Executive Dow Constantine today froze his salary and those of his appointed leadership, eliminating the group’s cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) and step increases for next year. As part of his effort to close an estimated $60 million gap in the general fund budget for next year, the Executive also proposed extending an existing countywide hiring freeze by making many current position vacancies permanent.

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Saying he will lead by example to contain the cost of government, King County Executive Dow Constantine today froze his salary and those of his appointed leadership, eliminating the group’s cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) and step increases for next year. As part of his effort to close an estimated $60 million gap in the general fund budget for next year, the Executive also proposed extending an existing countywide hiring freeze by making many current position vacancies permanent.

“I cannot in good conscience send the Council a 2011 budget with drastic cuts to public safety without first leading through example in my office and administration and asking others to do the same,” said Executive Constantine. “These sacrifices must be shared by all.”

Among the savings measures the Executive announced today were:

• Effectively freezing his own salary by donating any 2011 increase back to the County.
  
• Freezing the salaries for his Executive Office, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Office of Strategic Planning and Performance Management (OSPPM), and his appointed leadership – about 155 people.
  
• Proposing permanent elimination of many positions left vacant under the current countywide hiring freeze, reallocating the workload where possible, and carrying those reductions forward in his 2011 budget proposal.
  
• Continuing to limit out-of-state travel funded by the county.

The Executive asked King County’s independently-elected officials including the Prosecutor, Sheriff, County Councilmembers, Assessor, and Elections Director to join him in these cost-containment measures. Salaries for Superior and District Court Judges were frozen in September of 2008 by the Washington Citizens' Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials.

“I strongly support the proposals and actions that Executive Constantine presented today,” said County Council Chair Bob Ferguson. “We must all do our part to solve this financial problem.”

"Executive Constantine is leading by example, and I have followed his lead in my own office,” said King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg. “Cutting labor costs is a crucial component of a comprehensive strategy to meet the budget shortfall.”

"Elections will do its part to help the County operate as efficiently as possible,” said King County Elections Director Sherril Huff. “I'm supporting the Executive's salary initiative."

“The salaries for the judicial branch are set at the state level by a state salary commission,” said Superior Court Presiding Judge Bruce Hilyer. “Judges have not received any cost-of-living increase for 2009 or 2010 and we do not intend to ask for one.”

“I’m joining Executive Constantine and endorsing a salary freeze for myself and my top staff as one small step towards trying to resolve the County’s looming budget crisis,” said Assessor Lloyd Hara. “Taxpayers have every right to expect us to tighten our belts.”

The Executive said he will urge organized labor to join him in containing costs by forgoing COLA next year, and he is working with the County Council to adopt labor policies that support this effort.

“We must all be part of the solution,” said Constantine. “I will ask our labor partners to join us in containing compensation costs in a way that is fair and equitable across the county’s workforce.”

The Executive Office freeze comes on top of actions Constantine took last fall to reduce the level of salaries and reduce the number of staff.

The Executive cited the importance of ongoing work on workplace effectiveness as a way to help employees do their work better and increase job satisfaction, with the goal of cutting the increase in the cost of government in half by July 2011.

The County Council is set to vote on new County labor policies at its Committee of the Whole meeting on Wednesday. A new county revenue forecast issued today shows 2010 sales tax revenues down even further than projected.