Everett budgets $250k for annexation study, subarea plan
Published 1:30 am Thursday, April 9, 2026
EVERETT — As part of a budget amendment, the Everett City Council voted Wednesday to put $250,000 toward a study of possible annexation and a land use planning effort in south Everett.
The annexation study — set to be conducted by a consulting service, according to the budget amendment — will cost $200,000.
As of 2020, census data showed that about 47,690 people lived in Everett’s urban growth area, parts of unincorporated Snohomish County identified by the county as areas that the city could annex. The city is focusing on potentially bringing the Mariner neighborhood into city limits, city spokesperson Simone Tarver wrote in an email, a portion of the city’s urban growth area with about 21,000 residents. That area, located mostly west of I-5, including portions of 4th Avenue West, Airport Road and 128th Street SW, is home to Mariner High School, busy bus routes and a public library.
The budget authority is just a first step in the process. The city will now look for a contractor to conduct the study, Tarver wrote.
“We look forward to having more specifics to share as the progress moves forward,” she wrote.
Since 2000, Everett has gained about 4,700 residents through annexation, mostly through an annexation in 2000. The city’s last annexation was in 2021, which brought industrial land on Smith Island with no residents into city borders.
About 223,000 people live in the unincorporated areas of southwest Snohomish County.
Another $50,000 will go toward work on a subarea plan in the Casino Road neighborhood, a land use planning document focused on a smaller, specific area of the city. The city has previously created subarea plans for the downtown core — known as Metro Everett — as well as most of Evergreen Way.
That money will go toward outreach and community engagement efforts in 2026 and 2027, the amendment reads.
The amendment also included a number of procedural adjustments, like reflecting new grant funds in the budget or reappropriating unspent funds from the previous year into the 2026 budget. The annexation study and the subarea plan funding were the only increases in spending listed in the budget amendment.
Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.
