If White Center and Boulevard Park jointly formed the city of North Highline, the new municipality would be broke immediately.

That's the conclusion of Nesbitt Planning & Management Inc., which was hired by King County to analyze options for how North Highline might govern itself in the future.

The council is scheduled to recommend a course of action to North Highline residents on Nov. 3, but so far there's no consensus among council members as to what's best.

The Nesbitt study estimates North Highline would have to spend $14.7 million a year providing local government services to its residents. At least during start-up of a new city, North Highline would have to spend another $4.2 million for buildings, vehicles, equipment and other capital expenditures.

The Nesbitt study did not include the cost of replacing the South Park Bridge. King County owns the failing structure and regional transportation funds probably would have to be used to fix it, said Tom Nesbitt who, along with Cynthia Stewart, is advising the North Highline Council.

The consultants predict North Highline would be able to collect only about $9 million in tax revenue from its residents and businesses. Cities can assume bonded indebtedness to build structures, sewer lines and the like. Cities in Washington cannot have a deficit in the current expense or general fund budgets. They must either cut services or add revenue.

"It really is not feasible for you to incorporate," Nesbitt told the council. New cities can succeed with debt early in their existence, but it's important to balance revenue and expenses as soon as possible, he said.

"Don't burden the future," Nesbitt warned the council.

Besides, voters might not approve the formation of a new city if they know there will be a lot more expenses than income.

"A study that shows you don't have the money to incorporate is death at the polls," Nesbitt said.

Some council members seemed convinced there wouldn't be enough money to form a new city of North Highline.

"The numbers are almost insurmountable," said Russ Kay, council president.

Steve Jeffries said he could "see no way around it whatsoever."

Ruth Ann Matthias said she favored incorporation but now has doubts it would work.

"It feels like a funeral because there was hope in this community (to form a new city)," said Judy Duff, council vice president.

The gloomy financial forecast did not dissuade other North Highline Council members from their optimism however. By a show of hands, five of the dozen council members present indicated they were not ready to give up on the idea of North Highline forming its own city.

Carlos Jimenez said many new residents are moving to North Highline and developers are putting up new structures in the community, all of which adds to the community's tax base.

Lee Lim is convinced additional money could be found to cover the new city's costs. Perhaps Burien or Seattle could offer incentives to join them, he said.

Barbara Peters said North Highline residents would have more clout if they were a small city.

Duff wondered if the financial situation would be different if renters of low-income housing in Greenbridge, the planned replacement of the King County Housing Authority's Park Lake Homes, paid property tax. Nesbitt replied that two-thirds of the 900 to 1,100 new housing units will be privately owned, yet even that wouldn't be enough tax revenue to close the gap.

Council members Doris Tevaseu and Karen Veloria suggested splitting North Highline so that the northern part of the community could join Seattle and the southern part could become one with Burien. But Ron Johnson said, although he lives closer to Seattle, he feels more like Burien.

Duff told fellow council members that neighboring cities previously cherry-picked some nearby areas that could've increased North Highline's tax base.

"What happens to those left behind?" she asked. "I would like to see us stay together."

Duff, who has a farm in the area, said she's concerned about increasing density in North Highline and favors growth management.

"Let's maintain the small-town mentality," she said.

About half of North Highline residents are ethnic minorities who need more government services, said Steve Jeffries. They might prefer joining Seattle because the big city offers more programs than Burien, he added.

But Carlos Jimenez disputed that assertion.

"The No. 1 question people have is, can I afford to live in this area?" Jimenez said.

Steve Cox made up his mind that it's better to annex to Burien. For those wondering what it would be like if White Center became part of Seattle, he suggested they look at what the city has done for Delridge and South Park.

"Those areas have gone to hell the last 20 years," Cox said.

But Doris Tevaseu pointed out that Burien expects to lose $1.2 million a year if it annexes North Highline, which prompted her to ask, "Will we lose what we have?"

The variety of opinions on the council seems to represent the differing opinions of their North Highline constituents. Some residents want to be annexed by Burien, others want to become part of Seattle, and some want to form a new city. Meanwhile others wonder why the community can't continue being unincorporated.

Part of the population considers North Highline rural so they don't want sidewalks. Other residents think of the community as an urban appendage of Seattle that needs more sidewalks.

Some see North Highline as "this Vashon little thing," said Council President Kay.

No wonder there's no consensus among the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council.

The council is scheduled to vote on a recommendation to present to North Highline residents at 7 p.m. Nov. 3 at Evergreen High School. Voters will have the final say.

Tim St. Clair can be reached at tstclair@robinsonnews.com or 932-0300.