Burien Budget & Police Spending
Summary
Burien contracts its police services from the King County Sheriff’s Office for its own dedicated and shared personnel. In addition, jail services are provided by the South Correctional Entity (SCORE), in which the City has 5% ownership. Burien also contracts for electronic home detention services. Historically, almost half of the General Fund is spent on these two contracts.
The chart below shows the breakdown of the 2021-2022 Adopted Burien Budget’s General Fund expenditures. Of the $58.79 million available, $27,341,680 has been allocated to police services. Comparing to other categories, the City of Burien plans to spend on policing:
1.8x what it spends on General Government
3.6x what it spends on Parks and Recreation
6.5x what it spends on Community Development
33.7x what it spends on Public Works
Burien’s Human Services Division is included in the General Government slice and has been allocated $1,322,470 or 2.25% of the General Fund. The amount spent on police is 20.7x that spent on Human Services.
Importance
Burien’s budget is a reflection of its priorities and gives insight into how elected officials order the importance of different municipal services based on the amount of money allocated to each. By understanding where the Burien government spends the City’s money, residents can see whether their values are represented or not.
More Details
From City of Burien General Fund:
POLICE
The Police Department is responsible for providing a number of services to help realize Burien’s vision for a safe, quality community. The City contracts with the King County Sheriff’s Office for its own dedicated and shared personnel. Direct services include Patrol Services, Criminal Investigations, Special Emphasis Investigations, Gang Investigations, Collaborative Approaches to Crime Reduction and a Community Service Officer. In addition to the direct contracted services, Burien also receives support services including air support, asset forfeiture, bomb disposal, canine, communications center (911), hostage negotiation, Major Crimes Investigations, Major Accident Response and Reconstruction and the TAC-30 (SWAT) unit. Countywide non-chargeable services include AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System), civil warrants, courthouse security, criminal warrants, dignitary protection, search and rescue, and sexual predator tracking are also included in the contract with the King County Sheriff’s Office.
JAIL
Jail services are provided by the South Correctional Entity (SCORE), in which the City has a 5% ownership of the facility. The City also contracts for electronic home detention services.
HUMAN SERVICES
The Human Services Division develops, plans, implements, and administers the City of Burien’s human services activities. The Division will typically focus on three key roles: As a planner to assess and anticipate community needs, and develop appropriate policy and program responses based on those needs, As a facilitator to convene and engage others in community problem-solving to develop and improve services, and As a funding provider to disburse federal Community Development Block Grants and City funding to support a network of services to respond to community needs
PARKS AND RECREATION
The PaRCS Department promotes a healthy, livable community with opportunities for physical activity as well as personal and cultural enrichment. To accomplish this mission, it offers recreation and cultural programs for citizens from pre-school age through senior adults. Participants are involved in a wide variety of arts, sports, health, and active living and special interest areas. Recreation programs are offered at the Burien Community Center, Moshier Art Center, and various Burien schools. The Department produces many city-wide special events throughout the year. The Department is also responsible for the operations, maintenance, and stewardship of Burien’s park system, with over 350 acres of parks and open space property, including 25 developed and undeveloped parks
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
The Building Division supports the goal of providing essential public safety, health, and welfare through responsible administration of the adopted building, fire, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, and stateamended construction-related codes. Projects are reviewed for code compliance via the plan review process, permit issuance, and extensive inspection process. In addition, the division coordinates the plan review and inspection process with the fire districts, water districts, sewer districts, state agencies, and other City departments. The Building Division also provides contract services to the City of Normandy Park
The Planning Division is responsible for current planning, maintaining and implementing the Burien Comprehensive Plan, all land use and subdivision codes and other special intergovernmental projects. Current planning involves review and approval of both building and zoning/land use permits, response to public inquiries on land use and planning issues, preparation of staff reports on planning issues, and providing public information on the development process. Long-range planning involves special studies and preparation of policies and regulations to address projected growth in the city. The division provides staff support to the Planning Commission, Hearing Examiner, and ad hoc special committees. The division supports the City Council in the review of current and long-term land development issues.
PUBLIC WORKS
The Public Works Department is divided into two divisions. The Engineering Division includes capital improvement project planning and construction, environmental engineering, drainage system management, development engineering for permitting, and review of right-of-way improvements. The Operations and Maintenance Division is responsible for maintenance and operation of City streets, drainage systems, facilities, and fleet services. Maintenance and operation of City Hall and Emergency Management are funded in the General Fund.