An update on the anticipated fiscal impact that annexation of the North Highline unincorporated area would have on Burien was presented to city council members March 20.

The update will serve as a benchmark in future city deliberations over annexation.

Community Development Director Scott Greenberg explained that Burien first issued a review draft of the potential annexation area-study, designed to identify the fiscal impact on the city, in 2004.

Although the city did not produce a final report in 2005, Greenberg noted that council members and staff addressed questions raised in the previous year’s study.

Currently, he said, the city has updated the original data, which addresses only Burien operations. An update on the impact on other services will be presented to lawmakers in April.

Greenberg said that staffers considered four different options:

Annexation of the entire North Highline area by Burien.

A partial annexation in which Burien would annex all except White Center and the Beverly Park areas.

A “southern annexation” of the north Shorewood and Salmon Creek areas, with the assumption that Seattle would annex the rest of North Highline.

And no annexation by Burien, with Seattle annexing the entire area.

“For the general fund, it really doesn’t matter a whole lot from an operational standpoint whether [Burien] annexes full, partial or southern,” Greenberg said.

He noted that the anticipated deficit resulting from any of these annexation options would range from $500,000 to $700,000 a year -- not a significant difference.

What is significant, Greenberg continued, is the deficit that could arise from a legislative change to a major revenue source.

Substitute Senate Bill 6686, which passed the legislature this year and was awaiting Gov. Gregoire’s signature last week, would provide a 0.2 percent credit on the state portion of sales tax to an annexing city, he said.

This would apply to both the full and partial annexation scenarios, since that section of the relates to annexations of areas with 20,000 people or more.

Another section of the bill, Greenberg continued, would give a 0.1 percent sales tax credit to cities that annex between 10,000 and 20,000 people.

If the bill is signed into law, he noted, Burien would gain $10.4 million in anticipated revenue with full annexation of North Highline, $5.5 million for a partial annexation and $3.3 million for a southern annexation.

“If the governor does not sign the bill, the deficits will range from $1 million up to $1.8 million per year to do any of the first three annexation scenarios,” said Greenberg.

This would be “more of a significant difference to work with,” he observed.

Greenberg also outlined the community engagement plan for discussion of the potential annexation issue, with an objective to reach all audiences at least once with information including an opportunity for community input.

According to the plan, several audiences already have been identified, including activists, businesses and all neighborhoods involved, with an emphasis on two areas that could be affected the most.

The first area is north Burien, which Greenberg said would experience a reduction or loss of police and fire services if Seattle annexes North Highline.

The other area is Normandy Park, where residents could be affected because they are part of the same fire district as Burien.

“Normandy Park is one-third of the assessed value of the fire district. It’s important to stress that if we don’t involve Normandy Park on the issue of fire service we could very well alienate them and possibly loose them to another fire district,” said Deputy Mayor Jack Block, Jr.

The plan also suggests methods for reaching these groups, including kiosks on Southwest 152nd Street, information repositories at city halls and libraries, and an e-mail list of people who would like to remain informed.

The city plans to do a citywide postcard mailing to announce a series of meetings on annexation that will take place later this spring, Greenberg told council members.

The only date that has been set in North Highline is April 19, he noted.

The White Center Community Development Association will host a town meeting in conjunction with KCTS television, which will include a brief screening of a documentary on the White Center area that will air April 20 on Channel 9.