Kirkland Postmaster Kathy Dela Cruz said the mail-delivery process is moving smoothly as of July 1, a month after about 2,700 households with Bothell addresses were annexed into Kirkland. Overall, more than 12,700 homes sat in the annexation area of Finn Hill, North Juanita and Kingsgate in unincorporated King County.
She noted that three mail carriers cover the old Bothell addresses, with two covering their same routes and one staking out a new one.
“We’re adjusting to a little bit more travel time to deliver the mail,” Dela Cruz said of the new route.
Marie Stake, Kirkland communications program manager, said there’s a bit of adjusting for everyone, especially new residents.
“We’ve been getting emails and calls from people asking about garbage service and police service,” she said of the two main concerns. “We’ve also been getting praise and thank you, because there’s more police, City Hall is right here and their elected officials are close to them.”
But going from a 98011 zip code to 98034 hasn’t been fine for everyone.
“Some people did not want the change. We got some calls with people saying, ‘I did not know about this,'” Dela Cruz said. “It was voted on — it passed. You just listen (to them). People think it (could) change their property values.” (After a Reporter search of real-estate Web sites and other cities that have either had annexations or are proposing to do so, property values are said to remain the same.)
New Kirkland resident Scott Helton, who lived with a Bothell address for 16 years, offered: “I would think the property values would go up. But then if it goes up, that could be bad because then they could raise property taxes, too.
“I’m a little leery. I’m just waiting to see what happens, because it’s so new to us.”
According to a city finances newsletter, Kirkland is one of several jurisdictions that levies property taxes, and Stake noted that Kirkland receives just 14 percent of residents’ property tax bills.
For 2011, annexed residents will continue to pay property taxes to the King County Treasurer’s Office; in 2012, those residents will pay taxes to the city of Kirkland, Stake added.
The annexation pushed Kirkland’s population well over 80,000, making it the 12th largest city in the state.
The initial vote on the annexation needed 60 percent to pass in 2009. Normally, annexation without an assumption of debt needs a simple majority. City officials ultimately included the assumption of Kirkland’s current debt in the ballot measure. The vote failed to get 60 percent by just seven votes. But with the vote being well over the 50 percent mark needed for just annexation, the Kirkland City Council repeated history by voting to annex without putting the burden of previous debts incurred by the city on the new residents. The exact same thing occurred with the city’s last annexation of Rose Hill in 1988, which also included the Lower Juanita neighborhoods.
Many voted in favor of the annexation for an increased police presence in the three neighborhoods. The King County Sherrif’s Department has just three deputies to respond to issues in an area with more than 31,000 residents. But some are skeptical of the increased patrols.
“We consider ourselves to be part of their community,” said Kirkland Police Capt. Bill Hamilton in a Kirkland Reporter story earlier this month. “We take pride in our community. We want to ease into things and just raise awareness.”
It’s been “so far, so good” for new Kirkland resident Sue Dwyer, who has lived in her 92nd Place Northeast home for 15 years.
“The police presence is amazing now. I never saw a police car up here — ever,” she said (Helton added that some of the speed traps are “kind of ridiculous”). Dwyer added: “Our garbage service has changed. And for me, the better, because all three — recycling, trash, yard waste — (are picked up) every week.”
Dwyer noted that all her kids were educated in the Lake Washington School District, and her house was listed as a Kirkland residence when the family bought it since it was just outside the city limits.
Due to the size and complexity of the Finn Hill, North Juanita and Kingsgate annexation, services will be transitioned over time as revenue sources become available, according to the city’s Web site. As noted, some immediate changes are police, road maintenance and solid-waste services. Many service providers will remain the same including fire and emergency medical service, water/sewer provider, libraries and telecommunications companies (phone, television and Internet).
Seeing Kirkland city workers in action around his neighborhood has been a plus for Helton.
“It seems like they’re kind of jumping into it,” he said while pointing to one of the tree-filled islands in the 92nd Place Northeast cul-de-sac, and noting that workers have been maintaining them nicely. “I think it’s going to be good in the long run. It’s better to be Kirkland than just unincorporated.”
New Kirkland residents will have to update their driver’s licenses and their vehicle registrations; the King County Elections Office will automatically send them an updated voter-registration card in the mail by the end of July.
Matt Phelps contributed to this story.
