MARYSVILLE — A little more than 36,000 people live in Marysville.
That could change soon, in a big way.
More than 55,000 people live in the city and near the city limits, combined.
The city would like to have them all within its borders by next year.
The move would catapult Marysville from the third largest city in Snohomish County to second, at 55,153, according to city and state figures. That’s well past Edmonds at 40,560 and behind only Everett at 101,800.
It would also jump from the 26th largest city in the state to 15th, according to estimates from the state Office of Financial Management.
“We’re delighted, we’ve been after this for several years,” said Erlayne Opel, 70, who lives in a condominium complex between 88th Avenue NE and Grove Street.
She and others would like more of a police presence, though crime isn’t particularly a problem, Opel said.
The move would engulf all of Marysville’s remaining urban growth area, possibly drawing the city’s geographic expansion to a close for good.
“This area’s the final piece,” Mayor Dennis Kendall said.
Kendall and city staff say the move pencils out — not to make money, but to keep from losing it in the future.
The city wants to take advantage of a state law that allows cities to keep one-tenth of a cent more per dollar in sales tax per 10,000 residents added to the city at any one time. The law expires in 2010.
The city is still crunching the numbers, but so far it looks as Marysville would actually lose some money from having to hire more police and maintain roads and other services in the new neighborhoods, despite the tax break.
Still, it wouldn’t cost as much as it would if the city waits until the tax break disappears, city administrator Mary Swenson said.
“The city at some point is going to have to take those areas on,” she said.
It would require approval from the Marysville City Council, Snohomish County, and — depending on which method is used — property owners or voters. The city would have to either get the owners of 60 percent of the property in the area to sign on or let the residents vote.
City Council president Jeff Seibert hasn’t seen the numbers, but likes the annexation plan so far. Kendall hopes to take the idea to the council in March.
Seibert said he’s heard concerns about a lack of police presence.
“They’re pretty stretched,” Seibert said of Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies.
The area stretches from Grove Street on the south nearly to 152nd Street NE to the north.
It’s crisscrossed by 88th, 100th and 108th streets, and bisected north and south by 51st Avenue NE. A few unincorporated pockets flanking I-5 also would be added.
The annexation area is almost entirely residential, with a mix of mostly older homes and some newer developments. It also contains a few schools, including Marysville-Pilchuck High School, and churches. Residential neighborhoods use more tax money in services than they generate.
The city’s strategy has been to annex commercial areas first, for the tax revenue, and to add residential areas later. The city has snaked up State Avenue and Smokey Point Boulevard, all the way to 172nd Street NE and across I-5 to Lakewood. Between 2000 and 2007, the city added 10,895 people, making it the sixth-fastest-growing city in the state during that time.
The city plans to set up meetings to discuss the annexation idea. None has been scheduled.
Opel and her neighbors, 675 people in all, asked to join the city three years ago. But the request has been held up by a dispute between the city and Snohomish County over how to split the $40 million cost of widening 88th, most of which is now in unincorporated territory.
The road project made it onto the regional transit measure on the ballot in November, but that measure was soundly defeated by voters. Now the city says it will continue to pursue an agreement with the county.
Farther north, near 100th Street NE, John Miller and his wife, Justine, run Creative Hands jewelry-and-craft shop out of the converted garage in their home.
John Miller said he likes the idea of a break on the water and sewer bill, but overall, he’s ambivalent.
“It doesn’t make any difference, they’re going to do what they’re going to do,” he said.
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