Tumwater, Thurston County adopt agreement for city to annex unincorporated ‘islands’
Tumwater City Council met with the Thurston County Board of Commissioners Tuesday to discuss a joint interlocal agreement for the annexation of unincorporated “islands” of property inside Tumwater city limits.
Despite some opposition from residents during the public comment portion, the city moved to adopt the agreement, moving one step closer to eliminating the islands.
Gary Cooper with Local Planning Solutions pintroduced the annexation proposals Tuesday night. He said the 12 “islands” of unincorporated land were created over time as annexations occurred in some surrounding areas and not in others, typically due to the owner of a piece of property opposing annexation.
Cooper said this isn’t a problem unique to Tumwater. In 2020, the state legislature passed a new law that allows cities and counties to annex islands across the state through a jointly approved interlocal agreement. Before then, annexations happened on a more voluntary basis.
Cooper said the islands in question are all within Tumwater’s Urban Growth Area. When an area is designated as such, the city should shoot to annex it within 20 years.
Right now, the county is responsible to provide police and fire response as well as other services to the islands, although Cooper said those residents are often using city amenities without contributing to city taxes. Roads and stormwater management, code enforcement, building and land use permits are all handled through Thurston County, even if people living within the islands have a city address.
Special voting materials have to be made for those living within the islands as well.
A couple residents of the unincorporated “islands” submitted written comments to the council opposing the annexations, saying the communities they live in see no benefit of being absorbed into the city.
Don Trosper, a lifelong resident of the Littlerock/Trosper island, said during the meeting that his family — which has ties to Thurston County dating back to 1892 — is partially split on the annexations.
Trosper said he’s in favor of the annexations, but he doesn’t think his brother is. He isn’t too happy about the extra taxes, which the rest of the Trosper family also disagrees with.
“Growth and change can be rather emotional, but we realize that it is also inevitable,” Trosper told The Olympian. “I can understand why my ancestors used to say that the community was getting ‘awfully city-fied.’ We now find ourselves surrounded by residential development rather than the woods and country of our childhood.”
He said his community involvement over the years has led him to support the annexations for efficiency sake. He said he and his family just aren’t happy with being forced to be annexed when it used to be on a voluntary basis.
“Property rights are an important principle in our young nation and we are concerned that those are being eroded incrementally,” Trosper said. “We need to be careful to preserve our heritage and our individual rights and responsibilities. It remains to be seen what continued growth and regulations bring to this special city.”
When it comes to taxes, Cooper said they’ll go up until 2024 and then go back down. Currently, the tax rate for the Littlerock/Trosper island specifically is $13.53 per $1,000 of assessed value. After annexation, it would be bumped up to $14. This is due to an excess levy in effect for the McLane Fire Department that was approved by voters. Once the excess levy expires in a couple years, it will decrease to $12.80.
To calculate property taxes, take the value of the property, which can be found on the Thurston County assessor’s website, and divide that by $1,000, then multiply that result by the post-annexation tax rate.
Bottom line, Cooper said for the first two years it will cost about $38 more per month to live in the city. After the levies expire, it will be about $5.60 more per month.
“There is an increase,” he said. “I’m never one to say it’s marginal; money is money. Some people think that’s a lot, but it’s not as much as a lot of people think it might be.”
Cooper said that just because the interlocal agreement is adopted doesn’t mean the annexations have happened. From here, it’s the city’s responsibility to accomplish the annexations.
The timeline is subject to change, but for now, there will be a public hearing on the first annexation of 11 islands on March 15. If an ordinance is approved and adopted, then the annexation would occur. The Littlerock/Trosper island annexation will be voted on and potentially adopted on May 17.
