Lacey Council faces annexations

Members of the Lacey City Council, at its annual retreat, faced head-on the issue of annexation.

There’s significant pressure for cities, not just Lacey, to annex areas outside of the city limits, but within the Growth Management boundaries.   This pressure is coming from county governments, which are having difficulties servicing urban areas within their county.

Lacey City Manager Greg Cuoio told the group that the City of Lacey comprises 38,000 people in 16 square miles.  The urban areas around Lacey hold 30,000 people in their 16 square miles.  Cuoio said the general fund budget for Lacey is $38 million.  If it were to annex the urban areas surrounding the city, it would receive only $10 million in tax revenue.

“That’s a deficit of about $28 million dollars a year,” Cuoio said.  In addition he added, “it would take between a half billion and a billion dollars, to bring those areas up to city standards.”

But the city and the council, did agree that some areas should be annexed into the city.   They pointed to the Regional Athletic Complex (RAC) on Marvin and Steilacoom which is currently in the county.  The city runs the complex.  Annexing it would make getting permits easier.

The councilmembers also thought that the Lacey Senior Center and the Lacey Community Center, along  with Woodland Creek Park, should be annexed into the city.  This area wasn’t previously annexed because road improvements on Pacific Avenue would have meant the city had to reimburse the county.  That statute of limitations has expired.

Also mentioned as possible annexation was the Capitol City Golf Course which is surrounded on three sides by the City of Lacey.