What to do with Fairwood?
Fairwood is a nice neighborhood, but like many, we have a problem. Being part of unincorporated King County seems like just a technicality, but it presents some problems. In short, the County wants all the urban unincorporated areas out of its hair. By 2012 all such areas are “strongly encouraged” to either incorporate into our own city, or annex to an existing city. For Fairwood, which has a Renton address but sends kids to Kent School District, the most likely annexation option appears to be Renton.
However, many people favor incorporating into a city of Fairwood, as evidenced by the recent vote where the incorporation proposal narrowly failed. Although it failed, the issue is not yet dead. Heated debate continues.
The main criticism levied by those who supported annexation towards the idea of incorporation was that snobbery (not wanting to annex to gasp! Renton) was pushing them to create a city which couldn’t support itself. Other than the Fairwood Shopping Center at 140th and Petrovitsky, there would not be a large tax base of businesses relative to the number of residents. But, an amazing change has taken place in the law …
With a change of a few words, sales tax revenue is now routed to the destination city where goods are delivered. Thus, your purchases from an internet retailer like Amazon, or your furniture delivery from a warehouse in Tukwila, will cause the sales tax revenue to go to your home city. Suddenly, in “Virtual Fairwood“, we have a larger tax base.
So, while signs sprout up supporting annexation to Renton, at the same time the Fairwood Municipal Initiative works to create a new feasibility study, hearings, and get the issue on the ballot by late 2008 or early 2009.
Do you have any thoughts on the possible Fairwood incorporation, or annexation to Renton? Leave me a comment, and let me know.
January 28th, 2008 at 8:42 am
[...] Future of the Fairwood Library by Lynn Glessner In the ongoing discussion of the future of Fairwood - annex or incorporate? - the latest issue is the Fairwood Library. Currently, the Fairwood Library [...]
January 28th, 2008 at 10:15 am
[...] unincorporated King County with a Renton address, east of Renton, with a Kent School District (aka Fairwood) that means you have more snow than most of Renton, which is closed, but you still take the kids to [...]