Now that the city of Seattle has punted on annexing the remainder of North Highline, will Burien grab the ball and quickly attempt to add White Center to the city?

Burien City Manager Mike Martin says there will be “no sudden moves” by the city on annexing the remaining unincorporated area.

He said Burien has been focused on other things besides annexation, including blending the newly incorporated southern portion of the old North Highline into Burien. The city has not even done a financial analysis on what it would cost Burien to incorporate the White Center area, according to Martin.
On March 28, the Seattle City Council voted to delay making a decision on annexation until February 2012. The resolution said Seattle “is faced with significant financial challenges and it is difficult for the City to commit to providing the appropriate level of services for the North Highline Annexation Area if the City proceeds with annexation at this time.”

Seattle lawmakers called for the mayor’s office to verify its financial projections and issue an updated financial report by Dec. 31.

The resolution also mentioned that the city of Tukwila wants to talk to Seattle about an overlapping potential annexation area. Dealing with the Tukwila issue may not have given Seattle enough time to hold a November election on the North Highline annexation, according to the resolution.

Seattle council members also stated that if Burien chooses to initiate an annexation election, Seattle would not object. Residents in the proposed annexation area would vote on whether they want to incorporate into Burien. Burien voters would not vote on annexation.

Martin said Burien and Seattle officials had a “gentleman’s agreement” that Seattle would not block Burien’s attempts to annex the southern part while Burien would not oppose Seattle’s possible annexation of the northern portion. Martin termed it a gentlemen’s agreement because he said Burien officials signed the document but Seattle officials did not.

When Martin reported the Seattle resolution vote to Burien council members at their regular council meeting, there were no questions or statements from the Burien lawmakers.
Martin said, “Don’t read too much into” the silence from Burien lawmakers.
He noted the Seattle council voted at 2 p.m. on the resolution and Martin reported on the vote at about 7:30 p.m. the same day.

“They were just receiving fresh news,” Martin said. “We were waiting for Seattle and being very cautious about it.

“The council will tell staff what they want us to do.”

Some Burien council members have voiced support in the past for annexing the White Center area.
Martin said staff has been focusing on adding the newly incorporated area into the city. The area was formally brought into Burien a year ago on April 1, 2010.
Martin said the incorporation “has gone remarkably well.”

Staff will present a report to the Burien council on the incorporation later this month.
Martin indicated he expects the report to show that the incorporation has been revenue neutral.
He acknowledged that a $550,000 per year sales tax credit from the state has substantially contributed to the rosy financial situation. Burien will receive the tax credit each year for ten years.
Martin said the state’s Growth Management Act called for urban unincorporated areas to be annexed into neighboring cities.

He noted state officials see the tax credit as a matter of “good governance.”
Martin said he doesn’t expect the sales tax credit to be revoked despite the state’s poor financial condition.
He added that he expects the state will also honor a commitment to give a $5 million per year sales tax credit for ten years to the city that annexes the remainder of North Highline.