South King Fire and Rescue is cutting $417,000 from its current budget immediately as a response to a shrinking revenue stream. Chief Financial Officer David Lawson said the department’s revenue from property taxes has been reduced by $3.5 million from 2009 to 2010.

Those immediate cuts will include a hiring freeze as well as cuts in training expenses, department supplies and vehicle replacement costs. The department is also planning on cutting costs in salary and benefits through attrition, meaning no replacements will be hired for those who leave or retire.

“The freeze on hiring is indefinite until such time as we can have a predictable, stable revenue stream,” Lawson said. “If we are unable to stabilize revenues, we will continue the freeze, and will likely look for reductions in staff. We will be unable to sustain operations at present levels if revenues stay flat or if they decline because of further reductions in property values.”

The 2010 budget was set for $23.2 million. The department’s next budget will be adopted in November 2010.

In the meantime, the board of commissioners will continue discussing future revenue options. Since mid-2009, the board has been closely paying attention to the budget issues when it began seeing that the property value decline was likely to move into 2010.