King County will begin sending many property, identify theft and drug crimes from superior court to district and municipal courts, Des Moines Municipal Court Judge Veronica Alicea-Galvan told Des Moines lawmakers recently.

The county is facing a budget crisis and is asking everyone else to help out, according to Alicea-Galvan.

She warned of the potential negative impacts to the court.

"I think that we can agree that the obligation of any government is to provide and ensure that individuals have access to justice and access to the courts and that we comply with those constitutional mandates, but the practical impacts of that are what we all have to deal with," Alicea-Galvan said.

Some of the crimes will be filed directly to district or municipal court, allowing criminals to plead to misdemeanors instead of felonies, she noted. Court and jail costs also become the city's problem.

An understaffed court will also receive more cases, Alicea-Galvan explained.

Des Moines' court is short by almost three people but hiring more staff won't solve the problem because there isn't enough room in the building to house the ones they have now, according to the judge.

"We would like to see what happens in the next six months," Alicea-Galvan said. "I believe that our staff is talented enough and capable enough and able enough to at least absorb the impacts for now.

"I just don't want you to be surprised if in six months we come back in here and tell you we are drowning."

In other business, council members were reminded that next year Des Moines residents will pay an extra $1.72 a month for surface water management, raising the rate from $9.83 to $11.55 a month.

The council in 2005 approved a three year phased rate adjustment of $.83 plus inflation in 2006, and a $.82 rate adjustment plus inflation for 2007 and 2008.

Thirty percent of the revenues go toward the Capital Improvement Program (CIP), which is a ten-year list of projects, beginning in 2006 through 2015.

The program funds projects such as the Marine View Drive Bridge, Barnes Creek Detention Facility and Des Moines Creek Basin Project.

A renewal of the $.82 rate increase plus inflation would not be enough to cover the newly projected costs.

The projected cost in 2005 to complete all the projects on the ten-year plan was approximately $4.6 million. The new projected cost from 2009 to 2015 to complete 14 projects is $4.32 million. There is $600,000 in funding from outside sources supplementing that budget.

This is after $1.5 million spent on five projects that have already been completed.

In addition to funding the projects the city is now operating under a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System storm water permit.