Gregoire Says State Cannot Afford to Share Revenues With Cities

Olympia, WA - Washington lawmakers are returning to Olympia later this month to address a $2-billion budget shortfall, Washington's Governor Christine Gregoire says the state may share local government's concerns, but they can't afford to share much else in 2012 "When we went through the budget cuts this time, and realized that to find $2-billion dollars we just do not have the money, we began to ask can we afford to share the revenue with local governments."
With over 200 million in proposed cuts to local support, huge programs like streamlined sales tax, .09 funding, and annexation incentives are line items on Olympia's list. Gregoire said the state has cut about $10 billion in spending in the last three years, it's no longer as easy as furloughs or layoffs "You could let every single salary of every state employee go to zero, and that's less than %14 of the state budget."
The Association of Washington Cities met in Aberdeen last week to warn local leaders to brace for impact.