King County: Why we tax

Speaking of good timing, the King County Council made a fine call when it voted to finance better flood control.

In adopting its 2008 budget last month, the council instituted a modest property tax to deal with water problems and the failing levees that have contributed to what Councilwoman Kathy Lambert recently said have been eight federally declared flood disasters since 1990. The $300 million over 10 years will help with a good part of a long list of badly needed levee projects compiled by Executive Ron Sims, much of it along six main waterways. And, thanks to an amendment from Councilman Bob Ferguson, 10 percent of the money will be available under a competitive process to deal with more localized problems, such as found in some cities' neighborhoods.

No one likes new taxes, but King County has experienced too much flooding to ignore the problems facing its rural areas, and a good number of neighborhoods. About one-fifth of the county's economic output involves workers in floodplains.

Even without what scientists say is the likelihood of increased flooding in Western Washington because of global warming, flood control would need to be improved. One only needed to look outside Monday to know why the county decided to invest in protecting the public.