Getting all the things done King County has to do to provide the framework for business and economic development is a constant challenge in a tough economy.

As King County Executive Dow Constantine told the audience at the Auburn Area Chamber of Commerce Partnership Luncheon on Monday at Emerald Downs, county government provides traffic infrastructure that gets millions of workers to and from their jobs. But it also must protect the most vulnerable people in the communities, provide for public safety and justice, treat wastewater that comes from homes and businesses and protect the region from potentially crippling pandemics.

More than 75 percent of the county’s general fund of unrestricted sales and property tax dollars goes to these public safety functions.

“In these tough times, people need services from government more than usual, but we’re much less able to provide those services,” Constantine said.

The day Constantine took office, he noted, the Green River Valley faced a significant threat of flooding. But cities, the county and the state worked together and petitioned the federal government for help. Recently, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray was able to secure $44 million in appropriations to improve the interim protections at the Howard Hanson Dam to restore it to historic flood protection levels for some time to come.

In February, King County was denied $99 million in federal stimulus grant funds to replace the 79-year-old South Park Bridge in Seattle, which is at the end of its useful life. But King County, the City of Seattle and state government were able to cobble together more than $95 million for this purpose. Another grant application is in the works to reach the $130 million needed, which will help the industrial and residential neighborhoods served by that bridge.

Next week Constantine will present his first budget to the King County Council, and it will show another $60 million in cuts to the general fund, which, again, is more than three-quarters public safety. That’s on top of the nearly $150 million that’s been cut in the last two years from the $630 million general fund.

“This is a tremendous challenge,” Constantine said, adding that part of the problem is that the county suffers from a long-term structural imbalance between the flat revenue situation and the rising cost of doing the same things year after year.

“Our largest single revenue source, property tax, is limited to 1 percent growth per year,” Constantine said. “Of course, we get money for new construction, but you know how that has been going lately. We get a little bit of sales tax from each city’s collection as well as in the unincorporated areas. But there’s not much sales tax left in the unincorporated area, which is more and more rural. Meanwhile, the cost of doing business in King County have been going up 5 or 6 percent every year, while inflation’s been 2 percent on average over time. That is driven largely by the cost of employing people. Health care costs are going up maybe 12 percent or so. Our target is to drive down the cost of doing business close to the background rate of inflation.”

Constantine said the county needs not only to find a mechanism to cut the cost of services but also figure out how to deliver services more efficiently. He said the ounty will ask residents for an increase in the sales tax of 2/10s of 1 percent. Half would sunset in three years, the other half would take a while longer to help the county replace an important youth justice facility that is falling down.

“I have not merely stopped with looking for efficiencies, but controlling labor costs is also an important part of the equation,” Constantine said.

In July, Constantine announced that he was freezing the salaries of everybody under his direction supervision, that is, 155 senior managers. For the third year in a row, the county executive will be refunding the automatic increase in his own salary. The represented work force has also agreed to forego its cost of living increases next year.