Mayor Mike McGinn presented his 2011-2012 Proposed Budget to the community and City Council Sept. 27, and the good news is that the Mayor made every effort to preserve direct human services. Funding will be maintained at 2010 levels for most services that meet basic needs including homeless services, emergency food support, child care subsidies, and youth programs. This is the eighth straight year that funding for direct services to homeless people will be preserved.

However, because of a continued decline in revenue and the slow economic recovery, the Seattle Human Services Department (HSD) has had to make a 5 percent cut ($2.7 million) to its general fund budget in 2011. In order to preserve direct services as much as possible, the department looked at other ways of making reductions, including eliminating or reducing department administrative staff, and eliminating inflation adjustments to our agency contracts.

The City Council will now review the Mayor’s proposal, make adjustments, and vote of a final budget by the end of November. For more details on the Mayor’s Proposed Budget, visit the Mayor’s home page at http://www.cityofseattle.gov/mayor/