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First Annexation Meeting
Meeting Notes
Representatives from area Homeowners Associations met Thursday April 4th, 2002 at the King County Library Services Center on Newport Way in Issaquah.
Meeting came to order slightly after 7pm.
Joan Probala had everybody introduce themselves.
David Sao, Timberlake Resident
David Bangs, South Cove Govt. Affairs Chair
Gary Thede, Sammamish Beach Club President
Jeff McDiarmid, Timberlake Co-President
Joan Probala, South Cove, Govt. Affairs
Kevin Morgan, South Cove Resident
Marie Blakley, Weatherwood President
Phil Pitney, Timberlake Co-President
Richard Cook, Timberlake Board Member
Julie Holmes, Weatherwood
Megan Anderson, Weatherwood
Deborah Parsons, Greenwood Point Board
Walt Dorsey, Meerwood
Shirley Lopez, Meerwood
Marsha Potts, Sammamish Beach Club Treasurer
David Johnson, Timberlake
Several handouts were distributed, including a table from Issaquah comparing its property tax rates with those in unincorporated King County, a similar table from Bellevue, and a map of what Issaquah considers the "Greenwood Point" annexation area which includes all of our contiguous neighborhoods and a small area with condos on the other side of I-90.
We had a general discussion about the lay of the land. We are in Issaquah's annexation area. Timberlake was once in Bellevue's annexation area but petitioned to be moved into Issaquah's in around 1994.
The growth management plan dictates that all areas of urban King County should be incorporated into a city by 2012. If we do not approach them, Issaquah won't annex our area until around 2010.
Some benefits of annexing early would be: Lower property taxes by almost 20%, better police protection, availability of block watch programs, increased opportunity to go to "city hall" and have issues addressed, higher standards for the future development of W. Lake Sammamish Parkway. In short – we would get better services and pay less for them.
There was further discussion about how remote King County seems to be. They are a "lame duck" government because the plans are for our area to be annexed. King County is so big that this area is nowhere on their radar screen. They accidentally put Meerwood Park on the closure list because they simply forgot about the special relationship with the Meerwood HOA. And further undesirable development on W. Lake Sammamish Parkway is likely because this is a small island of unincorporated area in the midst of two cities (Bellevue and Issaquah) with very restrictive development policies.
After hearing various opinions, the group was polled and everybody present agreed that we ought to seek to annex to either Issaquah or Bellevue. Several people spoke in favor of Bellevue. People who work in Bellevue tend to associate greatly with that community, and not with Issaquah. However, most in the room associate more with Issaquah.
Walt Dorsey pointed out that we are currently under the fire protection of Eastside Fire and Rescue. We would stay in that fire district if we annex to Issaquah. However, if we annex to Bellevue we would end up protected by the Bellevue Fire Department, which is highly rated. Home insurance rates could go down quite a bit. The benefits of the Bellevue Fire District are mostly related to insurance rates, because in an actual emergency, Bellevue units would come to this neighborhood if they were closer than Eastside units.
David Bangs pointed out that we are in the Issaquah
Potential Annexation Area, and shared this statement, in which he summarizes
what he was told by Nick Matz, of the Bellevue Planning and Community
Development Department.
South Cove is clearly within Issaquah's sphere of influence, and there has been an agreement that Issaquah would eventually annex our area since 1979. Issaquah and Bellevue have been planning their services ever since according to that plan. Bellevue cannot discuss annexation issues with you, since the negotiations over potential annexation area are long complete, and your area is to be part of Issaquah. If you really want to be part of Bellevue, the next step would be to petition Issaquah to release you from their annexation area. Once that were done, you would be free to talk to Bellevue.
There was some discussion about tax rates. The property tax rates in Bellevue and Issaquah seem approximately equal. Residents of the 41.5 neighborhood that was recently annexed to Bellevue saw their annual property tax rate go down $600 per average home. We would experience a similar decrease regardless of which city we would annex to.
However, there are other fees that would go up if we annexed to a city. For example, one attendee pointed out that Issaquah has very high cell phone taxes, and that the tax had accidentally showed up on her bill. She got the tax waved, but it would be reinstated if we were annexed. Someone pointed out that many area residents would not know that they could have such taxes waved, so are probably paying the higher Issaquah taxes already. Someone else pointed out that it would be hard for such taxes to equal the average $600 saved on property taxes. But all agreed we need to understand the entire taxation impact of annexation.
We talked about Issaquah vs. Bellevue. Some felt that they would prefer Bellevue, but given the obstacles to Bellevue annexation, all agree the best strategy is to petition for accelerated Issaquah annexation.
Joan Probala indicated she had talked to the Mayor of Issaquah and several city council members. She received good indication that if we can demonstrate local support for annexation, Issaquah would agree to put the issue on the ballot during 2003. May 2003 may be possible, but November 2003 is more likely. Since Issaquah has bonded indebtedness, 60% of those voting would have to vote YES on the annexation measure.
Open Questions: We should seek answers to the following questions.
1) Besides property taxes, what taxes or fees would change as a result of annexing to Issaquah? Example: Would cell phone taxes go up? Garbage collection fees? , etc.
2) What improvements would Issaquah commit to making to W. Lake Sammamish Parkway?
3) What is the exact annexation process? What are the petition requirements to request a place for annexation on the ballot? How would the election work, and when would it occur?
Next Steps:
A small committee, consisting of Joan Probala, David Bangs, Kevin Morgan, Julie Holmes and Shirley Lopez, will work together to undertake the following tasks:
· Put together a packet of information. "One Sheet" This will be distributed by the HOA's to their residents as part of the announcement of a public meeting.
· Hold a public meeting (tentatively scheduled for a Tuesday late in May) to discuss the annexation issue with all interested residents of the annexation area.
· Invite appropriate City Council member(s) to answer public questions at that meeting.
· Get local newspapers to announce the meeting and send reporters to cover the meeting.
· Contact HOA's not represented at tonight's meeting. (Examples: Sammamish Bluff Condominium Association, Meadowbrook Point, Waterford Terrace).
Notes recorded and respectfully submitted by
David Bangs, South Cove HOA secretary.
