The Federal Way City Council will vote tomorrow on whether to spend $221,000 toward the Federal Way Public Health Center’s operating costs for 2015.

Seattle-King County Public Health officials announced back in spring that four health clinics, Federal Way and Auburn centers included, could close come 2015 because of a lack of state and federal funding. The funding gap to keep the Federal Way clinic open is about $1.5 million in the county’s biennial budget, or $750,000 a year.

If the Council votes on the one-time expenditure — which will cover 30 percent of the operating costs to keep the Federal Way center open another year — King County will cover the remaining 70 percent, pending labor agreements, said Mayor Jim Ferrell.

“There’s a two-prong approach, first let’s make sure we keep the doors open for the first year,” Ferrell said. “The longterm approach is something that [King County] Executive Dow Constantine is committed to working through, we as a Council and city government are committed to working through.”

Ferrell said he and Constantine have been talking about a deal since mid-August in several phone conversations. Originally, Ferrell said they were thinking of incorporating a six-month emergency funding situation, but switched to year-long funding for labor considerations and so that there was more time to come up with a longterm plan.

“The key point here is that we did not want to shut the doors on these 13,700 mothers,” Ferrell said, referring to the Federal Way Public Health Center’s annual clientele who take part in programs such as the WIC (Women, Infants and Children) Supplemental Nutrition Program, Maternity Support Services and family planning services.

Ferrell said talking to other mayors throughout King County for additional assistance will be a part of the longterm solution, as there was “simply not time to do that at this stage.”

“We have to be focused on saving the Federal Way clinic,” Ferrell said, adding that going to other mayors would be a structural change. “We will engage those mayors and those leaders going forward. That’s not part of the short-term solution, the longterm solution is a more regional approach.”

Frank Abe, a spokesman for the King County Executive Office, said Constantine worked hard to keep public health clinics open year after year and kept the doors open despite declining funding and without adequate funding authority from Washington.

“Public health services are funded largely by state and federal grants,” Abe wrote in an email. “And that’s why it was so unjust and unfair to see those funds cut again and again by the state and federal government — actions that were beyond our control here at a local level.”

Already, the executive’s budget includes a proposal to keep the Greenbridge Health Center in White Center open through a partnership between King County, the city of Seattle and Planned Parenthood. The announcement was made on Monday.

“This is a new paradigm he has brought to King County: Not going it alone, but creating innovative partnerships across the range of responsibilities,” Abe said. “He will keep working with cities and community partners elsewhere in the region to develop similar partnerships to preserve Public Health.”

Abe said gaining the Federal Way City Council’s support at the regular meeting will be a key piece to the puzzle and “other pieces are still being worked upon,” adding that he expects Constantine to speak directly to this agreement when he presents his budget proposal to the King County Council on Sept. 22.

Ferrell said the city’s Finance Director Ade Ariwoola has indicated the city of Federal Way has the means to fund the one-time expenditure, but the city will not permanently budget the funding.

“I think, based on the emergent nature of this, the city of Federal Way needs to step up and say this is a priority,” Ferrell said.

King County officials have proposed impacts to the North Seattle Public Health Center and the Columbia center, with clinic closures in Bothell, White Center/Greenbridge, Auburn and Federal Way. Centers in downtown Seattle, Bellevue, Renton and two in Kent will remain open.

According to city officials, more than 90 percent of the Federal Way clinic’s clientele have incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty line. For example, a family of four making $23,850 or less is considered below 200 percent of the poverty line, or a family of six, $31,970, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

In addition, 73 percent are people of color, 7 percent are homeless, 59 percent of family planning patients are uninsured, 20 percent of those who are pregnant served by the maternity support services are involved in drugs or alcohol and 11 percent require an interpreter.

If a longterm situation can’t be reached countywide, Ferrell said he would then consider other partnerships, however, he is expected to continue the conversation with Constantine throughout the upcoming months to come to a “longterm structural solution countywide.”

Abe said King County is interested in working with the city of Federal Way throughout 2015 and 2016, if needed, to find a way for the clinic to remain.

The Council will vote on this funding authorization at the regular City Council meeting at 7 p.m. on Sept. 16 at City Hall. And the King County Council plans to adopt the final budget in late November.

Constantine and the Auburn mayor were unavailable for comment.

For more information about Seattle-King County Public Health, visit www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/budget.aspx.