Everett may add 20,000 residents

Published 12:01 am Sunday, October 12, 2008

EVERETT — If Everett wants to cash in on a state sales tax rebate for mega-annexations, it likely will look to stretch its boundaries east of Silver Lake.

In a study released last week, the Eastmont, Hilton Lake, Rugg’s Lake and Larimer communities emerged as the most cost-effective areas for the city to expand police, fire and other services.

The city could keep millions of dollars in sales tax revenue that would otherwise go to the state if it annexes the area west of 35th Avenue SE. Depending on how many of the neighborhoods are annexed, Everett could absorb up to 20,000 new residents. That’s roughly the population of Mukilteo.

The population boost would give Everett about 122,000 residents, edging out Bellevue as the state’s fifth-largest city.

Swallowing the unincorporated Silver Firs area northeast of Mill Creek as well as land near Lake Stickney south of Paine Field are options that appear to be off the table for now, said Allan Giffen, the city’s planning director.

Seattle consultant Berk &Associates is scheduled to give a 45-minute presentation on the fiscal impacts of annexation at the City Council’s next meeting. That’s planned for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the city council chambers, 3002 Wetmore Ave. The meeting is open to the public.

Council members are not expected to decide whether to proceed with an annexation this week.

The 47-page fiscal analysis by Berk &Associates concludes revenues generated from property taxes, sales taxes and other sources in the communities immediately east of Silver Lake could pay for providing basic services to annexed areas. (For a full copy of the report go to www.everettwa.org, jump to Planning, then click Annexation Fiscal Analysis.)

The state Growth Management Act encourages cities to absorb urban areas and to provide essential services such as police and fire protection, parks and planning. The neighborhoods are within Everett’s adopted urban growth areas.

The problem is, there often are few compelling enough financial incentives for cities to absorb communities. For example, the city has shown little interest in annexing relatively high-crime neighborhoods in south Everett near Mariner High School.

To help offset the expense of annexing unincorporated areas that don’t necessarily produce enough in revenue to pay for city services, state lawmakers in 2006 created a sales tax credit.

For cities that annex 10,000 people by 2010, the law extends a tenth-of-a-cent sales tax credit for 10 years. That amount doubles for cities that annex 20,000 or more people.

Annexing 20,000 people into Everett could funnel $40 million into city coffers, Giffen said.

The city’s new study on annexations predicts that even after the 10-year sales tax rebate expires, the areas east of Silver Lake could generate enough money to maintain fire service at current levels provided by Fire District 1. The study also suggests that the area would pay for police service at a higher level compared to that now offered by the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.

The consultants met with each city department to gain an understanding of what drives staffing and costs to estimate the cost of providing service to the annexation areas.

The study shows that annexing the area west of Silver Lake, including the neighborhoods around Mariner High School, likely would be a drain on city coffers. The report reaches a similar finding regarding annexation of the Silver Firs and Cathcart areas. Both of those neighborhoods are now outside the city’s urban growth area.

Before any annexations take place, people who own property inside the affected areas would get to vote on whether to join Everett. A state board also would have to give its blessing.

November 2009 is the soonest the city would likely ask residents to vote on an annexation, Giffen said.