Annexation Gets A ‘No’ Vote

Saying benefits of annexation don’t compensate for costs, Spokane’s Plan Commission shunned a bid to make Moran Prairie part of the city.

It might make good planning sense to annex the area, but “it makes bad financial sense,” said Plan Commissioner Stan Stirling.

Folding Moran Prairie into Spokane’s borders could cause “the whole city’s level of service to drop,” said Plan Commissioner Loretta Spence. “There are too many needs in the city to add this area.”

Residents and Fire District 8 officials opposed to the plan were relieved after the commission’s 5-2 vote.

“I’m glad they shot it down,” said resident Bruce Plewman.

“I feel very relieved,” said District 8 Fire chief Dan Stout, who added the city’s move could cost his district nearly half of its $1.1 million budget. “How would you feel if you were just told you get to keep your money?”

The move comes just a day after county commissioners moved to fight the annexation proposal, voting to stop the city from extending sewer lines to prairie homeowners.

The proposed annexation involved about 6,010 people and 1,560 acres south of the city, near the Palouse Highway and Hatch Road. It lies within the city’s utility service district, and the city’s in the process of extending sewer service to several homes.

Many residents already receive city water or sewer. In exchange, they signed covenants or contracts with the city saying they wouldn’t fight annexation.

Those covenants have caused numerous conflicts, pitting the city against residents and commissioners who say the contracts are akin to blackmail. But the state appeals court and Supreme Court say the covenants are perfectly legal, said City Attorney James Sloane.

Plan Commission members paid little attention to concerns over annexation covenants or the county commissioners’ recent vote. Their greatest worries lay in the cost of adding Moran Prairie.

The bill for providing routine city services such as police and fire to the area isn’t offset by added revenues. In fact, the city would lose nearly $225,000 a year.

Various improvements that include widening roads and building a new fire station could cost just less than $24 million over the next 10 years.

Many Moran Prairie residents worried their taxes and utility rates would go up. Property taxes would go up about 50 cents, but sewer and water rates would drop.

Other costs, such as garbage collection and telephone service, would rise slightly.

Plan commissioners Cherie Rodgers and Jim Bamburger were both in favor of annexing the area.

Rodgers’ chief concern was that commissioners would do nothing to protect Spokane’s water from Moran Prairie’s septic tanks - many of which are failing.

“I don’t have faith in their system, in their politics or their leadership,” Rodgers said. “I will go without better services in my neighborhood to bring better services to them.

Bamburger reasoned that urban areas belong within city boundaries.

The Plan Commission’s recommendation still goes before the City Council for review.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Map of Moran Prairie area