In today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels' administration reiterates its interest in annexing unincorporated White Center and adjoining "North Highline" communities. Nickels staffers tell the P-I it's "the right thing to do" for the residents, despite the net negative fiscal impact on Seattle. More likely, it's the right thing to do politically, as many more Democrat-leaning, social-service utilizing new Seattle voters could keep re-electing Nickels or like-minded tax-and-spend successors.
White Center needs a much stronger tax base, and unfortunately, its great diversity alone is not an economic growth strategy.
I'm one of a number of West Seattle residents who adds to the sales tax coffers in multi-ethnic, colorful White Center, at the Salvadorean Bakery; at the great Mexican butcher shop El Paisano (juicy carnitas on weekends, and thin Milanesa steak cutlets, later slathered with homemade salsa); and at McClendon's Hardware, which puts competitors to shame.
Despite too many gangbangers and sundry hoodlums, White Center is home to solid, long-time residents who keep up their properties, and hard-working immigrants, some even legal.
However, the numbers simply don't pencil out for an annexation of White Center/North Highline by Seattle. The gap between locally-generated tax revenues and demand for public services was put at $3.77 million in this P-I profile several years ago; a more recent estimate is of a $7 million gap between tax revenues and needed services, combined, in White Center/North Highline and another possible Seattle annexation target - the West Hill/Bryn Mawr/Skyway area north of Renton.
White Center/North Highline may vote next year on annexing to Seattle, Burien or nobody. No matter what, the Seattle City Council should continue to hold the line against Seattle annexation of White Center/North Highline. Seattle is already stretched thin on funding for police manpower, transportation infrastructure maintenance, and parks maintenance.
King County provides many services now to White Center/North Highline, and wants out. Perhaps the county should work harder to help certain property owners in White Center market land for light industrial and office development, boosting tax revenues. The imbalance between the tax yield and the tax drain in White Center is best corrected through free market mechanisms, not government charity.
Posted by Matt Rosenberg at May 30, 2006 11:49 AM | Email ThisRight now, White Center's local government tax burden is shared with the remainder of unincorporated King County. Most with rural folks in east King County. That is how government services work in unincorporated King County.
Far better to stick the tax burden on wealthy Seattle -- which is about 80% Democrat anyway. Why should strongly Republican leaning rural areas have to shoulder this burden?
This result is fair both for economic justice and political realities.
Posted by: Richard Pope on May 30, 2006 01:11 PMCommercial development would be quite hard. There's not a lot of vacant land, except for land impacted by Seatac.
Seatac is the second big factor that has dampened property values in the North Highline area. The Boulevard Park area is right under the landing and takeoff paths.
In a sense the question is "what is the responsibility of the county to take care of the mess it created by dumping public housing, and county residents by not insisting on adequate mitigation of Seatac's impacts on the surrounding communities."
County residents have gotten a free ride at the expense of North Highline by dumping public housing and airport noise. The state's move to assist with funding for 10 years is a partial recognition of the costs. The county's 10 Million mitigation fund is also a part of the solution as well. But if residents ultimately vote No on annexation, then it may be because the costs they would have to pay simply are not adequately being covered by the parties responsible for the financial mess in the first place.
Posted by: commentator on May 30, 2006 10:57 PMFirst, the 15,000 or so potential voters in North Highline aren't going to sway any Seattle election. This is a straw man argument used by Nickels-bashers with no base in reality.
Second, King County is simply not set up to be an urban government. The state gives cities and counties different tax mechanisms and legal responsiblilities. Counties are supposed to be regional providers of services(law and justice, transit, wastewater) and rural governments. As such they do not have the ability to tax businesses or to levy a utility tax. These two taxes are usually about a quarter of a city budget. Counties are simply not set up to be effective providers of urban services.
Third, counties are not set up to be pro-active in regards to development. To do so would mean--MORE GOVERNMENT(horrors!) Cities are much better at developing neighborhood plans which affect zoning and development. Partly because they have more resources.
Finally, sometimes people do things because they are "the right thing to do" Seattle is far better positioned to annex North Highline than any other jurisdiction. And as someone who lives nearby in Seattle, I will sleep better knowing a city with resources is taking care of the area.
White Center is poised for great things in the future. It is simply too convienient to be underdeveloped long.
BTW--tent cities have already been in White Center and all throughout South King County with nary a peep. It is only the Eastside that feels that others should deal with society's problems...
Posted by: surf logs kill on May 30, 2006 11:11 PMsurf logs kill sez "First, the 15,000 or so potential voters in North Highline aren't going to sway any Seattle election. This is a straw man argument used by Nickels-bashers with no base in reality."
1 In Nov-14-2002 the Seattle Times reported that the Monorail only had a 329 vote lead.
2 Given that Joel mismanaged a mass transit project that does not relieve congestion and now he's trying to pitch a bio diesel plant in Moses Lake, so much for 15,000 voters have no effect theory
3 "the right thing to do" is for Greg Nickels and Tim Ceis to fix the roads and other problems in Seattle before they acquires more property to mismanage
Posted by: Green Lake Mark on May 31, 2006 05:27 AMSmells like another Greg and Tim (those two monkeys on a short chain fed by real estate developers) show produced, directed, and paid for by their property developer masters. Joel Horn is probably looking for office space down on Roxbury right now. Heck Joel probably rented an office before the press release.
Yep, we can all sleep better now.
Posted by: bled by seattle taxes on June 1, 2006 07:19 AMUnfortunately our Burien City Council is made up of 6 moonbat Democrats who only listen to the Burien limousine liberals, who live on view or waterfront property and don't give a fig how much their taxes go up because they can pay higher taxes. The one Republican on the Burien City Council is pretty lame and ineffective.
It even gets worse when you see what happens to our sewer rates. If Seattle annexes North Highline, the sewer rates for Burien customers will double.
http://www.ci.burien.wa.us/commdvlpmnt/Annexation/Annex_affect-me.htm
The water district study is due out in a week or so...that will also likely show that the rate payers in Burien will pay higher rates for water if Seattle annexes North Highline.
I wonder why the heck Greg Nickels has in the past few months decided he wants to annex North Highline. Could it be the amount of buildable land that is there and he's running out of that in Seattle?
One thing I do know is that both Burien and North Highline have lower crime rates that the City of Seattle areas north of North Highline (Delridge/South Park/etc.)
So when Greg Nickel's says it is the right thing to do, I wonder for whom. Him? Seattle? North Highline residents? He certainly doesn't have the best interests of the North Highline residents in mind. If they annex to Seattle they will have higher sewer rates, higher taxes, and won't get squat in return. Could it be that "it is the right thing to do" for developers?
Posted by: R in Burien on June 4, 2006 03:15 PMGiven the ongoing movement toward incorporation of unincorporated areas, that is increasingly unlikely though. Between the two options, North Highline would be about half of Burien, and a much smaller percentage of Seattle. The implications for how much of a voice we'd have in local affairs are obvious.
Posted by: procyon on June 4, 2006 07:07 PM