Snohomish County NewsLocal soldiers tagged in photo
PHOTO COURTESY OF CAPT. DAVID RAINES
Sgt. First Class Kirsten Froelich, of Snohomish, and her nephew (left) Sgt. Beau Froelich, of Lake Stevens, enjoy a laugh together April 7 while stationed in Iraq at Contingency Operating Base Q-West. Both are assigned to the 81st Brigade Special Troops battalion in the defense operations center. The 81st Army National Guard is based in Everett.
Farmers market ready for busy season
Doug Ramsay photo
The Snohomish and Monroe farmers markets are looking to be better than ever as they start the season soon, adding more live entertainment to expand beyond just a vegetable market.
City spends $44,000 to freshen up annexation study
By KATIE MURDOCH
More than $200,000 deep into studying a proposed annexation that has split the community, the City Council approved spending more money to get further information.
The council last week approved spending up to $44,000 to update the second phase of the 2007 Berk and Associates study.
Phase 2 of the Berk study zeroed in on the potential impacts of annexation and showed nearly doubling the city’s size will have positive financial impacts for Mukilteo. The study concluded without annexation, the city could face revenue shortfalls by 2027.
The consultant is scheduled to present the updated budget and preliminary capital facilities plan during the June 8 work session. City staff has carved out four hours for the meeting.
The updated study will reflect current economic conditions and show different scenarios for how the annexation could affect the city, according to city documents.
City administrator Joe Hannan said there is nothing wrong with the information in the 2007 Berk study. But the update will be helpful because it will reflect current economic conditions.
“It’s a year old in a time when the economy has taken a dive,” Hannan said. “It needs to be updated.”
Councilman Randy Lord said the risk assessment showing projected scenarios of what could happen in the update is valid.
“It allows you to play the ‘what if’ game,” Lord said.
The consultant will also draft a preliminary capital facilities plan of the proposed annexation area. The capital facilities plan will show where road and stormwater improvements are needed and how to pay for them.
Hannan said the 2007 study shows a broad look at the city’s annexation budget and includes average costs. The city’s annexation budget, released earlier this year, reflects current economic impacts and pinpoints how much money each department needs and how much will be allocated.
“Ours is very specific,” he said.
Hannan said the city wants the consultant to provide a break down of which types of revenue the city would collect through annexation.
The original study gives an idea of how much revenue construction brought into the area, but did not specifically reveal how much was collected in the annexation area, he said.
“This study will reflect what we’ve done,” he said. “If your revenues don’t keep pace you have to make decisions of what to cut.”
The analysis done by Berk assumed that the annexation would have taken place last July. The study runs through the year 2027. The 2007 study concluded without annexation the city will eventually face revenue shortfalls as a result of Initiative 747 that limits raising property taxes 1 percent and the rising cost of doing business. Annexation could bring in 3,019 new housing units, 6,100 new people and 5,530 new jobs by 2027. The study looked at the eastern and western municipal urban growth areas (MUGA), the Paine Field MUGA, and parts of the Meadowdale and Lake Stickney Gaps.