North Bend annexation passes final approval from City Council
July 1, 2009
By Michael Rowe
North Bend’s City Council approved the final ordinance to annex about a square mile of property to the east of the city at a June 23 special meeting.
The annexation, which was dubbed the Tanner Annexation by the city, takes effect July 6. It will add between 500-800 new residents to the city who now live in the Woods River and other subdivisions off Tanner Road.
City Administrator Duncan Wilson said that there are a number of technical steps the city must take now that the ordinance is passed. The city contracted on June 29 to perform a census on the annexation area. Wilson said the contract would cost the city about $7,500. The census will also provide the city with an inventory of businesses in the annexation area.
If the updated census is what the city government believes it will be, then the North Bend City Council would need to add two council members to account for increased population. The City Council is currently five members.
Wilson said that supporters of the annexation attended the special City Council meeting to see the final annexation ordinance.
The city received enough formal petitions in March to move the annexation forward ahead of schedule. In order to be annexed, property owners representing 60 percent of the assessed value of an annexation area must submit formal petitions. The city received petitions from property owners representing 64 percent of the assessed value of the annexation area. The area’s assessed value was calculated to be $180 million, and property owners representing $115 million of the area’s assessed value signed petitions.
The impetus for bringing the subdivisions into the city was spurred by residents who wanted to join North Bend. Supporters of the annexation said that they would benefit from being under the umbrella of a city government, instead of relying on county government in what was unincorporated county land.
Related to the issue of which government represents the annexation area, is the concern over how land use in the area will be regulated. With the recent end of a decade-long water moratorium, North Bend expects to grow and it wants to control and manage its growth. Proponents of the annexation area think that local government will be more accountable than the county.
Residents of the annexation area might also see a slight tax break. The property taxes collected for the city are about $1.36 per $1,000 of assessed property value, whereas the county collects about $2.61 per $1,000 of assessed property value. Overall the city collects $9.80 per $1,000 of assessed property value, and the county collects $11.04 per $1,000 of assessed property value.
North Bend hopes to soon see one fiscal benefit from the annexation. The costs for repairs to streets and other work associated with a utility improvement district in the area should be lower because of the difference between city and county standards for that type of work.
Reach reporter Michael Bayless Rowe at mrowe@snovalleystar.com or 392-6434, ext. 248.
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