Seattle voters' defeat of the monorail is affecting the public debate over how the North Highline area should govern itself in the future.

Without the monorail tax, the cost of being a resident of Seattle is comparable to the tax expense of living in Burien.

North Highline residents have been comparing tax costs as they study which city the unincorporated area should join.

If the tax costs are about the same in Burien and Seattle, residents of North Highline ought to focus on what government services they want and which city can provide them, said Lisa Benson of the King County Office of Management and Planning.

County officials sponsored an annexation forum last week at Mount View Elementary School. About 100 people showed up.

The average assessed value of a house in North Highline is $190,000, Benson said. Under current tax rates in unincorporated North Highline, the owner of such a house pays $2,643 a year in property taxes.

If North Highline is annexed by Seattle, that same house will cost $2,654 in property taxes. If the area joins Burien, the homeowner will pay $2,658.

A woman at the meeting said a house worth $190,000 in North Highline would be assessed for considerably more in Seattle or Burien. Therefore the $190,000 house example was inaccurate, she said.

Another concern expressed at the forum was the effort by the city of Burien to designate North Highline as a "potential annexation area." The designation prevents other cities from annexing the same area.

Some people at the forum worried that Burien's action could preclude Seattle from annexing North Highline.

The city of Burien has been studying annexation of North Highline since summer 2004, said Scott Greenberg, Burien's planning chief.

The Burien City Council will consider North Highline annexation over the next few weeks as it ponders declaring North Highline a potential annexation area.

North Highline has more ethnic diversity than Seattle, Benson said. It's also more populated than Bellevue.

Ultimately it will be registered voters in North Highline who'll decide which city to join. The residents of Seattle and Burien don't get to vote on the matter.

North Highline's many immigrant residents who haven't become U.S. citizens won't get to vote on the future governance of the community.

If a majority of North Highline voters decide they don't want to join either Seattle or Burien, the area will remain unincorporated. However, some government services from King County will wither away.

Applause broke out when a man called for a public debate about annexing North Highline into Burien.

It was claimed at the forum that having "Seattle" as an address automatically adds 14 percent to the value of a house. Some people wanted to compare the effects of having their home address in "Seattle" versus "Burien."

One man asked suspiciously, “Why are Burien and Seattle interested in annexing the North Highline area?”

"Because this is a great community?" Benson ventured.

Somebody in the audience blew a raspberry as others guffawed derisively.

"They don't want us as a favor," a man said. "They want our taxes."

Taxpayers could find themselves paying even more if the city North Highline joins decides to raise taxes, he said.

"No favors are being done to us," the man said.

Part of the forum was spent in small discussion groups of about a dozen people.

One man argued that a Burienite has an easier time getting the attention of a Burien City Council member than a Seattleite does with a Seattle City Council member.

A woman said there would be a democratic advantage being part of Burien. With 60,000 residents and seven city council members, each elected official represents about 8,500 people. But in Seattle, the ratio is about 55,500 people per city council member.

Tim St. Clair can be contacted at tstclair@robinsonnews.com or 206-932-0300..)