Title
SE Annexation Feasibility Analysis
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Briefing, discussion only.
City Manager Recommendation:
Briefing, discussion only.
Report
Issue:
Briefing and discussion on the SE Annexation Feasibility Analysis
Staff Contact:
Tim Smith, Deputy Director, Community Planning and Development Department, 360.570.3915
Presenter(s):
Tim Smith, Deputy Director, Community Planning and Development Department
Morgan Shook, ECONorthwest
Lee Ann Ryan, ECONorthwest
Background and Analysis:
The City of Olympia explored the feasibility of annexing the southeast portion of its Urban Growth Area (UGA) in 2019. A draft feasibility report was delivered through a contract with Local Planning Solutions. This report profiled the proposed annexation area and provided a high-level analysis of potential annexation phases and impacts. At its September 16, 2021 meeting, the Council's Land Use and Environment Committee (LUEC) reviewed several scenarios of the potential impacts of annexation on City operating expenses and revenues. The Committee directed staff to proceed with a more detailed annexation fiscal analysis. This information would then be presented to the City Council at a future study session in preparation for a decision of whether and how to proceed with an annexation process.
The City subsequently published a Request for Qualification and selected ECONorthwest to prepare the analysis. ECONorthwest is a consulting firm with expertise in municipal annexation fiscal analysis and Washington state annexation laws. ECONorthwest was tasked with analyzing and measuring fiscal impacts of an annexation of the SE UGA under two scenarios: 1) City assumes responsibility for all services to the annexation area, including fire service provision, and (2) a Regional Fire Authority (RFA) assumes the City's fire service (formed with the City of Tumwater), which results in lower property tax revenues and lower service delivery costs in the a...
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