Bothell annexation closer to ballot
Published 12:01 am Tuesday, May 24, 2011
BOTHELL — The city’s plans to expand northward to take in large pieces of Snohomish County appear on course to make November’s ballot, if a few final pieces fall into place.
If enough voters say yes, another 22,000 people would
call Bothell home by the beginning of 2013. About 5.6 square miles of unincorporated land would be included.
The move would continue the trend of Snohomish County ceding urban areas to cities while remaining the main service provider for rural areas.
“As the services leave, and the revenues leave with them, we’ll just have to adjust,” County Councilman Dave Gossett said. “We’ll still obviously be a provider of regional services in terms of the jail, the auditor and the treasurer.”
A successful Bothell expansion would be the largest change in the county’s boundaries since the end of 2009, when annexations in Marysville and Lake Stevens added a combined 29,000 people to those cities.
To appear on the ballot, Bothell’s plan still needs approval from the Boundary Review Board. A hearing is scheduled before the board at 4 p.m. June 20 at the county campus in Everett.
The County Council is scheduled to decide its official position for the board hearing at 10:30 a.m. June 15. County leaders have signaled that they’re unlikely to stand in the way if the county keeps its current service area for garbage.
Two years ago, Snohomish County opposed a citizen-led plan to grow Bothell in the same area because it risked losing $1.9 million in solid waste revenue each year to King County. King County had argued that a 1980s agreement guaranteed it the right to handle all trash in Bothell, even from portions north of the county line. Bothell includes areas in both counties.
More recently, the counties have been working toward a compromise.
“King and Snohomish Counties agreed in principle in February and since that time we’ve been working together to finalize the necessary legal documents,” said Brian Parry, an executive director for Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon.
The agreement would keep the existing boundaries for solid waste.
“We are very pleased with the solution and appreciate the partnership with County Executive (Dow) Constantine and his staff,” Parry said.
There’s a chance that other concerns about fire protection could once again hold up the process. In 2009, Snohomish County fire districts Nos. 1 and 7 said the annexation would have forced them to close one station each and lay off up to 30 firefighters combined. Bothell planned to hire six new firefighters to replace them.
The proposed annexation area includes taxable properties worth more than $3 billion. That means the county would be giving up an estimated:
•$1.5 million per year from the county’s general fund.
About $1 million per year in money for managing water runoff.
Sixty-three miles of road and about $981,000 in yearly road-maintenance expenses. At the same time, the county could lose between $1.5 million and $4.5 million from a roads levy, depending on when the annexation takes effect.
Permit and other fees paid to the planning department totalling $800,000 a year.
Switching to city police from county deputies is another crucial issue. Logan Park, Locust Way Neighborhood Park and Forsgren Park would be turned over to Bothell as well.
Bothell wants the annexation to take effect between Aug. 1, 2012 and Jan. 1, 2013.
The city also is seeking to add 5,000 people in King County as well an approximately 12-acre speck of Snohomish County that’s more than 80 percent surrounded by the city’s current boundaries.
The 2010 U.S. Census reported 33,505 people living in Bothell. If all the potential annexations go through, Bothell would have about 60,000 people. When the city incorporated in 1909, it included about 500 people and 450 acres.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com.
