This is an URBAN GROWTH AREA. It has already been decided that this area will be annexed. That's what UGAs are - they are areas that the City and the County have already decided are going to be annexed. The residents in this area are not in a "rural" area. The area is already an urban area, with urban densities. The zoning will not change - it was given an urban level of zoning nearly 30 years ago when it was designated as an Urban Growth Area. Currently, the residents of this UGA receive Olympia utilities, drive on numerous surrounding Olympia streets, consume Olympia parks and recreation amenities, but pay taxes to the County. Almost nothing will change for the residents of the UGA following annexation. Because of existing mutual aid agreements, they will have the same emergency police and fire response, same garbage service, same utilities, etc. One improvement will be that Olympia police will be on tap to respond to non-emergencies, rather than the Thurston County Sheriff, which has less than half of the City's staffing of officers per 1,000 residents. Property taxes will NOT increase, because the County has a huge road tax that the residents will no longer pay. The main change would be that the residents would pay taxes to the City, whose services and amenities they currently use, rather than the County. The Council is making a mistake by not taking this area in.
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