City council to discuss annexing Eastgate this time next year | Events

This evening, the Bellevue City Council could begin the process of potentially annexing the Eastgate, Tamara Hills and Hilltop/Horizon View neighborhoods. City staff has recommended that the council allow them to begin outreach to the community so that this area could be annexed in April 2012.

"We need to find a way to do this to bring these people that are in our city bounds into our city government," said councilmember Claudia Balducci.

Staff members have provided the council with research regarding the costs, service changes and integration measures. Now, they would like to provide this information to the community so that residents living in these neighborhoods can decide for themselves whether they would like to be annexed.

Already, city staff has actively engaged community members in the proposed annexation area.

“There is a high level of community interest in citizens that have organized themselves and say ‘We are ready to be annexed,’” Senior Planner Nicholas Matz said.

The city hopes to annex these neighborhoods through a direct petition method - meaning property owners possessing at least 50 percent of the area's assessed value acknowledge that they would like to be annexed before the city can approve it.

Matz expects that property taxes for residents living in the annexation areas would decrease once they join the city of Bellevue, because the city could offer them services more efficiently.

City councilmember Jennifer Robertson lives in South Bellevue, and she believes that cuts to the King County budget have left residents in the annexation area lacking services they need. Bellevue Police are already responding to calls in this area, she says. Residents have also asked for a sidewalk on Newport Way between Somerset Boulevard and the Newport Library. This project would be a high priority for the city, Robertson says, but it is not in the county budget.

“We expect people will see a significant improvement in their services,” said Matz.

It will cost the city more to provide services to these new, largely residential areas, and staff have estimated a net operating deficit of $1.1 million. But Matz says Bellevue will be able to take advantage of a state statute that will allow the city to recover some of that cost through a sales tax credit.

The proposed annexation area includes 5,554 people, 2,123 residences and $1,036,146,000 in property value.

Tonight's city council study session is open to the public. In the future, there will be opportunities to comment on the annexation proposal.

See the full study session agenda packet for more information.

Robertson has written a column for her homeowners association describing why she supports South Bellevue annexation.