The Burien City Council has agreed to vote on the agenda to move forward with annexing the remaining part of North Highline as soon as possible after the successful incorporation of the southern part of North Highline.

Seattle has discussed putting the annexation of the north part of North Highline to the voters of the unincorporated area, but has not made a formal decision one way or the other about the unincorporated area.
Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin has said he thinks the Council will agree to put the annexation on the ballot as early as this November.

Concerns about paying for services in the low-income area caused annexation to be rejected by the Seattle City Council in the past. The State Legislature has approved legislation to give the city incorporates the area part of the States portion of sales tax to offset the extra cost of services.

Burien Mayor Joan McGilton said she believes the extra money from the State could be the reason Seattle is considering annexation now. McGilton said the money from the State could be $5 million.
Many citizens living in North Highline have come to the Burien Council Meetings asking if their options are going to be limited to annexing to Seattle or staying unincorporated, or if annexation to Burien was a possibility, as that would influence their vote to become a part of Seattle.

Burien Council Member Kathy Keene said, “People up there need to know they have a choice.”
Burien Council Member Gordon Shaw said he was in favor of annexing the remaining part of North Highline, but only after Burien successfully incorporated the part of North Highline they already have.

“There is a strong likelihood (the citizens of North Highline) will have to say no to Seattle before saying yes to Burien,” Shaw said. Which he said could be three to five years from now.

Council Member Lucy Krakowiak said she could not support the motion when it came to vote because she does not feel the City has the finances to support incorporating more.

Burien needs to be very careful with their finances, she said. Especially since the upcoming annexation is not cost neutral to the City.
Burien had to pass a sales tax increase on the area of North Highline being incorporated to cover an over $2 million shortfall.
Revenues from the annexation equal just over $6 million, while costs to incorporate the area equals nearly $8.2 million.
If the population of the annexed area is 10,000 or more the tax increase will be .1 percent, for an estimated total of $501,400 in additional revenue. If the population is 20,000 or more the increase will be .2 percent, for an estimated total of $1.2 million in additional revenue.

Before the increase the sales tax brought in from the incorporated area would equal an estimated $414,000.
In December of 2008 King County, Burien, Seattle and Fire Districts #2 and #11 worked on a Memorandum of Understanding regarding the future annexation of North Highline.

Every entity involved, except Seattle signed the Memorandum. Seattle’s City Council voted against signing it.
The Memorandum, among other things, divided North Highline into two parts and Burien would agree to only pursue annexation of the southern part and Seattle would agree to only pursue annexation of the northern part until December 31, 2011.

The Burien Council agreed since Seattle never signed the agreement they had no reason to follow it now.
It is not a legally binding document, but more of a statement of good faith Burien City Manger Mike Martin said.
Since Seattle never agreed to the memorandum the Burien Council did not feel like they would be breaking that faith by announcing their intentions to pursue annexation of the remainder of North Hill.

The resolution to pursue annexation of North Highline as soon as possible after successful annexation of the area currently being incorporated will be on the agenda of the next Burien Council Meeting, Monday, March 22.