We are juniors from The Center School who have concerns about the proposed City of Seattle budget for 2006.

This budget is a wonderful plan for the city, but what about the people themselves? No part of the budget has been cut this year, but city officials are planning on vastly underfunding many things. The city even has cash to spare at this point, which has resulted in some areas being overfunded--public safety, for example, which receives 54 percent of the budget. Other areas are not receiving the help they need, such as health and human services. Their importance is being dismissed.

The things that are being funded for public safety are often unnecessary--things that aren't keeping the public safe. One million dollars of the budget goes toward new ticketing devices for meter maids, and $6.8 million goes toward 25 new police officers. Just taking a small slice of that money would be enough to adequately fund health and human services. Doing this would prevent crime, instead of dealing with it after it has happened.

Fifteen percent of the budget, $11.3 million, is going toward arts and recreation, while only five percent of the budget, $3.8 million, has been set aside for health and human services. What we need are more people off the streets, off drugs, and on medication if needed. What the Health and Human Services Coalition is asking for this year is simply the restoration of funds cut off in previous years by Mayor Nickels.

These cuts have severely hindered many organizations, such as Casa Latina, a facility that supplies underprivileged individuals with the means to find jobs and short-term shelter. But, recently, Casa Latina has found that it cannot afford heating or working plumbing. A total of $2,070,787 of the city's $17 million budget surplus would be enough to cover all previous health and human services cuts. This would provide $700,000 extra for the anticipated loss of facilities as the climate shifts from keeping the homeless safe in shelters to moving them back into the functional world.

The inflation rate for health care is at 16 percent annually, and the rates for fuel and heating are similar. In contrast, Mayor Nickels has set the inflation rate for the city's COLA fund, which helps pay for things like health care and heating, at only 0.87 percent. Any extra funding would go toward supplying underfunded items such as food for seniors, Seattle employee fund replacement, community health clinics, and employment transportation.

Is this so unreasonable? Why should the underprivileged be denied help? When have you been down and gotten back on your feet only with the help of someone else? Nobody's asking for handouts--just something to eat and a place to sleep until they can get back on their feet.