There are several issues that have to be ironed out before annexation can take place on June 1. One of those matters could ultimately cost the City of Kirkland $144,000 a year – a bill the city had not planned on.

During preliminary annexation discussions with King County representatives, city staff were informed of a 2005 estimate of 600 street lights for which county is responsible in the annexation neighborhoods of Finn Hill, Kingsgate and Juanita. The city budgeted $130,000 based on those estimates. But that number does not include street lights that residents pay through homeowners associations, and the city’s policy has been to pay for all residential street lights.

“Good news is that there are a lot of street lights, it is not very dark,” said Kirkland Assistant City Manager Marilynne Beard. “The bad news is that we didn’t budget for that many.”

But having two different policies for separate parts of the city is not acceptable.

“It creates a disparate treatment between the existing Kirkland and the annexation area,” said Beard. “As we go into this annexation we know that there is going to be a period of disparate treatment as we phase in services to the annexation area.”

The annexation area has more than 1,750 street lights. Homeowners associations are currently responsible for 1,457 street lights and are billed through Northshore and Woodiniville utility districts. The disparity came from new housing developments’ desire for more street lighting. When being built, the county requested that the subdivision residents pay for the new lighting on their streets.

“The City of Kirkland pays for all the power for all the street lights within the City of Kirkland,” said Beard. “And that has been our practice forever.”

The estimated difference between what the city has budgeted and the overall cost of all the street lights is $144,000.

Council Member Bob Sternoff had a different way to look at the problem.

“I think this is a great opportunity to look at our policy,” said Sternoff. “I don’t know what the great advantage is to paying for street lights in a sub-division. If it is in a sub-division, I don’t know why we are adding it to our budget.”

But according to the city attorney, a lawsuit in Seattle set the precedent for cities to pay for street lights where it pertains to safety.

“The provision for street lighting is akin to water for fire hydrants,” said city attorney Robin Jenkinson.

Lights with direct benefit to an individual resident can be charged to that resident.

The council accepted a city staff recommendation to phase in the additional costs.

“We are not giving you a specific recommendation on a time period, but to watch closely the financial performance in the annexation area to see what revenues come in and where we are at,” said Beard.

Residents within certain sub-divisions in the annexation area will continue to be charged for the lights until the city decides how to rectify the differing policies.

Those residents in the annexation area who pay for street lights are billed $6 every two months, or ultimately $36 a year.

The city council will take the issue back up at its May 2 meeting.