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The Mountlake Terrace City Council at its Thursday, Feb. 16, work session spent a majority of its time discussing the city’s potential annexation into the South County Regional Fire Authority.
Assistant City Manager Stephen Clifton updated the council on conversations that city and RFA staff have had over the past few months regarding the proposed annexation as well as who will retain ownership of Fire Station 19, which is in Mountlake Terrace city limits.
“A key part of the annexation discussion is whether the city council will help mitigate some of the impact of additional cost on city voters and if so, by how much and for what purpose?” Clifton asked.
In a presentation to the council Jan.3, Interim City Manager Andrew Neiditz said that either annexation or choosing to sign a short-term contract with the RFA will cause voters’ bills to increase. However, annexation will help the city’s finances long term, while choosing not to annex would significantly impact the city’s finances within the next few years.
In 2023, Mountlake Terrace will pay roughly $3.7 million for fire services, with $1.7 million of that total coming out of the general tax levy fund. If the city annexes, Clifton said the council could choose to give any, all or none of that amount back to taxpayers to help mitigate the increased costs they will see for fire services in the future.
If voters decide against annexation, however, the assistant city manager said Mountlake Terrace will have to enter into a new fire authority contract at parity – meaning the same rate that all other cities in the fire authority are currently paying.
“If the city were paying parity today for the same interlocal agreement, we would be paying an additional 81% more,” he said. “That equates to about $3,020,000 more out of our general fund. That’s very significant.”
Clifton showed the council a table created by the RFA with various scenarios depending on what councilmembers choose to do with the $1.7 million. They could give all of it back to residents, decreasing the amount individuals would have to pay out of pocket for fire service; they could give only a portion back, which would slightly decrease the cost for residents; or they could choose to keep the entire sum, using it for other projects like city parks or streets.
Clifton told the council the RFA is not suggesting the council keep the entire fund balance in reserve, but they wanted to present the councilmembers with all their options.
“[In regards to the pros and cons statements from the committees], I’m interested in hearing what the ‘no’ arguments are,” Mayor Pro Tem Bryan Wahl said. “I’ll tell you what one of those ‘no’ arguments is going to be: It’s going to cost more. And that’s the main reason that we may not pass this in April.”
Wahl said the council should inform voters the city is committed to reducing the impact on Mountlake Terrace residents’ pocketbooks so the annexation can pass. The mayor pro tem suggested councilmembers strongly consider giving the entire sum of money back to residents to ease the burden caused by increased bills.
“It’s still going to be a property tax increase … but that’s a small portion [compared to] what would happen if we don’t annex,” Wahl said. “What’s going to happen to us? We’re going to have to drastically cut services or drastically increase costs that are going to get passed onto our citizens.”
Mountlake Terrace Mayor Kyoko Matsumoto Wright agreed with Wahl, saying that while both options will bring a tax increase, only one is sustainable – annexation.
“Their argument might be that it’s going to cost more, but it’s going to cost more either way,” she said. “It’s either going to be a little bit more or it’s going to be a lot more.”
The council is set to vote at its Feb. 21 business meeting whether to place the annexation issue on the ballot.
In other business, Clifton briefed the council about a proposed amendment to Neiditz’s current interim city manager agreement. Right now, his contract is set to expire on March 2 – one day before permanent city manager interviews are set to take place. The amendment to extend Neiditz’s contract until March 31 would ensure Neiditz would remain in his job until a permanent city manager is appointed.
The council will also vote on this matter at its next business meeting.
Neiditz additionally announced to the council Thursday night that the city’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement for employment would officially be terminated Feb. 17.
The interim city manager said he made the decision after seeing multiple surrounding cities dropping their requirements as well as health officials stating the need for vaccination was no longer as urgent as it had been in years prior.
“We’ve had an issue with new employees questioning whether they want to apply for jobs here because of those requirements,” he said. “And sadly, there were a number of employees in the city who were separated or were terminated in the last couple of years because of lack of vaccination.”
Neiditz said employees who were previously let go due to this requirement are welcome to reapply for their old positions.
–By Lauren Reichenbach
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