Both Sides of the Fence

Edmonds · Esperance · Annexation 2026

Annexation is a bad deal for both sides of the fence.

The City of Edmonds plans to absorb Esperance (about 4,500 people and 464 acres) through an agreement with Snohomish County, with no public vote. Edmonds residents would take on the cost of serving thousands of new neighbors on a budget that is already in deficit. Esperance residents would pay more for services that are being cut. Neither community has been asked.

Ask for the numbers. Ask for a vote. What it means for Edmonds
$5.3MProjected Edmonds general-fund deficit in 2027, growing to $14.8M by 2032.City of Edmonds 2026 Financial Outlook
62City positions cut in the 2025–26 budget. Two police patrol positions were cut in December 2025.Council record
~$2MProjected yearly net from annexation once required new staff are counted, down from the $3.7M first announced.BERK Consulting, Aug. 2026
Dec 2028When the 20% utility tax that the annexation math depends on expires.Council record, Jul. 28, 2026

For Edmonds residents

Edmonds is being asked to grow before it has steadied itself.

Annexation isn't free for the city doing the annexing. Every new resident needs police, parks, roads and drainage on day one, but the revenue arrives later, if it arrives at all. Here is what the public record says Edmonds would be taking on.

1 More residents, stretched services

Edmonds serves about 43,000 people. Annexation adds roughly 4,500, about 10% more residents for the same City Hall.

The City's own consultant says serving them takes 7.75 new employees: five police officers, 1.75 parks, recreation and human-services staff, and one public-works employee. Those hires would come right after the City cut 62 positions and two patrol officers.

No plan has been published for paying those salaries in year one, before new revenue arrives. If hiring lags, current residents share an already thin police and parks staff with a larger city.

2 Revenue that can't keep pace

State law limits growth in the City's regular property-tax levy to 1% a year. Meanwhile, from 2019 to 2023 City spending grew 44.9% while revenue grew 27.8%, by the Mayor's own figures.

When the City asked voters for a $14.5M levy lift in November 2025, 58.8% said no. Since then the Council has doubled the utility tax to 20% (about $156 a year per household) and added two sales-tax increases. Edmonds' sales tax is now 10.7%, tied for highest in Washington.

The Public Works Director has said on the record that the annexation's projected net depends on that 20% utility tax, which expires in December 2028. The City has not published what the deal looks like at 10%. If the numbers don't hold, the gap lands on existing taxpayers.

3 Infrastructure bills come with the territory

When a city annexes an area, it takes over responsibility for the local roads, sidewalks and stormwater systems there. The Council has already deferred part of the area (“Area 2”) because of the 84th Ave W bridge, a known cost. Every published estimate still covers the whole area, so nobody has said what Area 1 alone brings in once it's staffed.

The City's record on big projects is not reassuring. The wastewater plant's gasifier was budgeted at $26M, now costs $31M, and has never run consistently. Since 2023, biosolids have been trucked more than 300 miles to Oregon.

Every projection also assumes 2025 home values. County resale prices are now falling and listings are up sharply. When values fall, a fixed levy doesn't, so the tax rate rises on everyone who stays.

For Esperance residents

You'd pay more, and you haven't been asked.

  • $364–$480 more a year on a median Esperance home ($821,700), mostly in stormwater and utility charges, according to the City's consultant.
  • No ballot. A state sales-tax credit for annexations (RCW 82.14.415) can't be started after July 1, 2028, and the City Attorney says holding an election would forfeit it. So the City is using an agreement with the County instead of a vote.
  • You've said no before. Esperance voters have rejected annexation five times since the 1960s, most recently in 2005.
  • The rezone is parked, not gone. The push for annexation grew out of a fight over a County rezone in 2025. In December 2025 the County pulled Esperance from its area-wide rezone, but it drafted a separate ordinance to rezone Esperance alone to multifamily (Ord. 25-081), and that ordinance is still in committee. The same County ordinance says Councilmembers want Edmonds to annex Esperance. That's pressure, not a reason to skip a vote: you can ask the County Council to withdraw 25-081 outright.
  • No promised response times. Supporters cite slow sheriff response, but Edmonds has just cut two patrol positions and hasn't committed to any response time in writing.

Pay more. No vote.

That's the deal as it stands. State law still gives you a way to force one. See your rights ↓

Already doing its share

Esperance is growing at the pace the County asks for, without a rezone.

Esperance has been told it has two choices: accept the County's rezone, or join Edmonds. There's a third, and it's the simplest: keep Esperance as it is. The County's own numbers show Esperance is already adding homes at the rate its growth plan calls for, under the zoning it has today.

~19new homes a year in Esperance since 2010, about 300 in all, under today's single-family zoning.BERK study for the City, Aug. 2026
~20new homes a year needed to reach the County's 2044 target for Esperance (474–534 homes from 2020).County growth targets; BERK
575homes of room under current zoning, by the County's own count. That's more than the target.County Buildable Lands Report, 2021
3homes per lot the County now allows: a house plus two accessory units. More room than in 2021.Snohomish County Code 30.28.010

The rezone is paperwork, not a need

The County's file for the Esperance rezone (Ord. 25-081) gives two purposes: to match Esperance's zoning to the County's land-use map, and to let housing projects skip site-by-site rezones. Neither is about meeting a growth target Esperance is already meeting. A paperwork reason isn't enough to change a neighborhood.

For Esperance: no trade-off needed

Without the rezone, Esperance keeps its single-family zoning, its County services and its say, with no 20% utility tax and no annexation without a vote. Withdrawing 25-081 protects the neighborhood's character more directly than annexation can.

For Edmonds: nothing to gain in housing

Esperance's new homes count toward the region's growth whichever government serves it. Annexation doesn't add a single home; it adds about 4,500 residents, their streets and stormwater system, and the 84th Avenue bridge to a City budget already in deficit, while Edmonds plans for 9,068 new homes of its own. Targets

Growth figures are approximate: BERK's housing counts come from state estimates and differ slightly from the 2020 Census count used for the County's targets. Every comparison points the same way. Sources: BERK Consulting, Esperance Annexation Study, Aug. 7, 2026 (City Council packet, Aug. 12, 2026); Snohomish County growth targets; SCC 30.28.010; Ord. 25-081 record.

What you may have heard

Good questions deserve straight answers.

Neighbors on both sides of the fence, including the City and the Esperance Neighborhood Alliance, have shared reasons to support annexation. Here is each one we've heard, next to what the public record says today. Heard one we missed? Let us know.

Already in place These have been taken care of without annexation.

You may have heardWhat we found
Annexation would ban fireworks in Esperance.The County already did. Consumer fireworks have been banned in unincorporated southwest Snohomish County, which includes Esperance, since 2021. Source
Annexation would improve fire and ambulance service.South County Fire serves both communities and would continue to. Since 2026, Edmonds residents pay South County Fire directly, just as Esperance residents do now. Source
Annexation would improve water and sewer service.Same pipes, same provider, bigger bill. Olympic View Water and Sewer District would keep serving Esperance; it would not become part of Edmonds. What changes is the City's 20% utility tax on water, sewer and stormwater, which the City's consultant expects Olympic View to pass on to Esperance customers. Together with Edmonds' higher stormwater charges, that tax accounts for most of the $364–$480 more a year a typical Esperance home would pay. The 20% rate is scheduled to drop to 10% after 2028, but the Council has already extended it once. Source
Annexation is the way to stop the County rezone.The County has paused it: Esperance was taken out of the December 2025 area-wide rezone, and a separate Esperance rezone (Ord. 25-081) is waiting in committee. Residents can also ask the County Council to withdraw it.

Not yet promised Good goals, but the City hasn't committed to them.

You may have heardWhat we found
Annexation would bring sidewalks.We'd all like safer streets to walk. But Edmonds is already putting off maintenance of the sidewalks it has; its 2025–26 budget says so plainly. The City recognizes Esperance's gaps, yet hasn't committed to any sidewalk project or schedule, and isn't sure the annexation tax credit could pay for one. Adding Esperance's streets to the same stretched budget would mean more needs competing for the same dollars, for neighbors on both sides of the fence. Source Budget
Annexation would mean faster police response.The City says annexation would not guarantee a particular response time. Edmonds plans to add four officers for Esperance, but it starts two patrol positions down after the December 2025 cuts. See the staffing math below. Source
Annexation would fix flooding and drainage.Specific trouble spots were raised at the community meeting. The City says annexation wouldn't by itself approve or fund an improvement; projects would be prioritized in future City budgets. Source
Parks would be better maintained.The City says maintenance could improve, depending on staffing and funding. Esperance Park is protected as a park by its grant terms either way. Source
Annexation would bring traffic calming.Esperance streets could be evaluated under Edmonds' traffic-calming program, as funding allows. Source

True, with a catch Real benefits worth weighing alongside the costs.

You may have heardWhat we found
Edmonds zoning would protect Esperance's character.Inside Esperance, Edmonds would be stricter: it caps homes at 25 ft, measured to the peak, while current County zoning allows 30 ft and the County's pending Esperance rezone (Ord. 25-081) would allow 45 ft, both measured to the middle of a pitched roof. On the Highway 99 edge, it isn't: Edmonds already zones its side of SR 99 for 75 ft, with no height limit at all in its nearest "Hi-Rise Node," about 180 ft from Esperance. Edmonds also hasn't said what zoning Esperance would get, and state law requires it to allow at least two homes per lot. The City says Esperance's zoning hasn't been decided yet, and a zoning workshop is planned. Source
Residents could vote in City elections.True. Esperance's roughly 4,500 residents would be about one in ten Edmonds residents. Under this process, though, they won't get a vote on joining. Source
Edmonds would protect trees.Edmonds' tree rules are stronger, and they also apply to trees on your own property. The rules are being updated now, so the details are still changing. Source

On your own property Day-to-day rules that would change for Esperance homeowners.

TopicCounty today, and in Edmonds
Chickens and other animalsCounty today: poultry, small livestock and grazing count as agriculture, which is allowed outright in Esperance's single-family zone. We found no limit on the number of hens, and roosters aren't banned (noise rules still apply). In Edmonds: up to six hens per single-family lot, hens only, and no more than five domestic animals per household. Goats, sheep, pigs and horses are allowed only under specific conditions. County County use table Edmonds
Large treesCounty today: removing a tree on an existing home's lot generally needs no permit unless it's in a critical area or protected by an earlier approval; the County's tree rules mainly apply to new development. In Edmonds: since April 2025, trees 30 inches or more across are protected from removal on private property unless hazardous. That interim rule now runs to April 2027 while a permanent rewrite, which would cover more private-lot removals, is drafted. County Edmonds
FencesCounty today: no building permit for fences up to 8 feet (with no masonry above 6 feet). In Edmonds: a permit is needed for any fence over 3 feet within 10 feet of the street or 30 feet of a corner. County Edmonds
Running a business from homeIn Edmonds: home businesses need a home-occupation permit and a City business license. Edmonds

Edmonds hasn't said whether existing animals, fences or trees would be grandfathered after annexation. It's worth asking.

For Edmonds residents What the City's budget would gain and take on.

You may have heardWhat we found
Annexation brings Edmonds $3.7M a year.That estimate came before staffing. The consultant's final report puts the net at about $2M, and the City says that figure depends on a utility tax that expires in 2028. The City also names Esperance's aging infrastructure as a reason for annexing, including the 84th Ave W bridge, the largest single potential cost (more below). Source
The timeline is needed to capture a state tax credit.The credit's deadline is setting the schedule. The City hasn't yet published what the credit would be worth each year, or why it outweighs holding a vote.

* Our arithmetic from the City's figures: Edmonds' 47 sworn officers answered 27,410 calls in 2025, about 580 each; Esperance's 3,336 calls at that rate is about 5.7 officers, rounded to 6. The Sheriff and Edmonds Police may count calls differently.

A bridge too far

The biggest bill in Esperance doesn't have a price yet.

The 84th Avenue W bridge by Chase Lake sits in what the City calls Annexation Area 2. The City's own consultant calls it Esperance's largest potential single capital cost, and it's the reason the City split annexation in two. Whoever owns it will pay to repair or replace it. Today that's the County. After annexation, it would be every Edmonds taxpayer, including the newest ones from Esperance.

1968The year the bridge was built. It will be 60 years old in 2028, the year annexation is meant to be finished.Snohomish County, as reported
“Fair”The County's rating. Not bad enough to qualify for County repair or replacement money, so no help is lined up.Everett Herald, Aug. 2026
$ ?No repair or replacement estimate has been published. The City doesn't yet know what the bridge study itself will cost.Council documents, as reported
Area 2Annexation of the half of Esperance that includes the bridge was put on hold on Aug. 18, 2026, while the City finds out.Resolution 1598

For Edmonds residents

Edmonds already has a deficit and is putting off maintenance of its own roads and sidewalks. A bridge replacement is the kind of cost that can run into the millions, and it would land on the same budget that pays for police, parks and street repair across the city.

For Esperance residents

You'd be paying Edmonds' 20% utility tax and higher stormwater charges, and you'd also share in the cost of a bridge your neighbors depend on. Today, the bridge is the County's responsibility, paid from the County road budget.

The tax credit may not cover it

The City is still checking whether the state annexation sales-tax credit can be spent on the bridge at all. The credit is meant to cover the cost of providing services, and it's capped at the gap between those costs and new revenue. Source

Sources: Everett Herald, Aug. 18, 2026; My Edmonds News, Aug. 2026; City of Edmonds community conversation summary.

Take action

Ask for the numbers. Ask for a vote.

If you only ask one question

“What is the annexation's net at a 10% utility tax, and will the City publish that number before it writes an ordinance?”

The City's consultant can produce the figure. Ask it at a Council meeting or in writing, and note the date of the answer.

Edmonds residents

Tell the Council that growth shouldn't come before a balanced budget. Ask who pays for 7.75 new employees in year one, and what happens to the annexation's net when the 20% utility tax expires.

Esperance residents

Ask the City to commit, in writing, to announcing the referendum window and signature threshold the day it passes any annexation ordinance. Find out your precinct's turnout in the last state general election. Ask Edmonds what zoning Esperance would get, and to write it into any annexation ordinance. Ask whether existing animals, fences and trees would be grandfathered. Ask the County Council to withdraw Ord. 25-081.

Everyone

Ask for fiscal decisions to be made at evening meetings residents can attend. The annexation resolution was approved at 11 a.m. on a Tuesday. Ask for a ballot.

Contact your representatives

Annexation needs a yes from both councils. A short, polite note in your own words makes the biggest difference. Tap an email address or phone number to get in touch.

Mayor of Edmonds

Questions for the City's annexation team: annexation@edmondswa.gov

Edmonds City Council

All seven seats are citywide, so every member represents every Edmonds resident.

Email the whole council · Council office 425-771-0248

Snohomish County Council

The County must also approve the annexation agreement. Esperance and Edmonds are both in District 3.

Council office 425-388-3494

Contact details from the City of Edmonds and Snohomish County websites, October 2026. Messages to elected officials may be public records.

Your rights: the City can skip the election, but not the referendum

Who
Registered voters living in the annexed area.
When
Within 45 days after the annexation ordinance passes.
How many
Signatures equal to 15% of the votes cast in the area at the last state general election. For an area of about 4,500 people, that's a few hundred signatures.
Then
The ordinance is suspended and the question goes to the area's voters.
Law
RCW 35A.14.470. A parallel route (RCW 35A.14.295–.299) uses a 10% threshold; which applies depends on how the City structures its action.

This is not legal advice. Confirm every step with the Snohomish County Auditor, and with a lawyer if you organize a petition.

How we got here

The timeline

  1. City spending grows 44.9%; revenue grows 27.8%.
  2. 62 positions cut; a $6M interfund loan is taken in anticipation of a levy.
  3. Voters reject the $14.5M levy lift, 58.8% to 41.2%.
  4. Utility tax doubled to 20% (4–3). Two patrol positions cut. County pulls Esperance from its area-wide rezone and drafts a separate Esperance rezone (Ord. 25-081), still in committee.
  5. New 0.1% transportation sales tax; Edmonds reaches 10.7%.
  6. Consultant projects $3.7M annexation net. S&P downgrade. State Auditor finds a material weakness. Utility tax extended through 2028.
  7. Final consultant report: about $2M once staffed. Council approves the annexation resolution 6–0 at an 11 a.m. weekday meeting; Area 2 deferred.
  8. Fiscal consultant warns of a 2029 cliff. Moody's downgrade reported. First public meeting on annexation, Sept. 30.
  9. 2027–28 budget adopted.
  10. Deadline for the state annexation sales-tax credit, which is what's driving the schedule.
  11. The 20% utility tax expires.
  12. The budget cliff.

Sources

Every figure comes from the public record.

Figures on this page were compiled from public documents by The Edmonds Record, which publishes full citations. We are not affiliated with it. Underlying sources include:

  • City of Edmonds 2026 Financial Outlook; Mayor's State of the City (2024, 2025)
  • BERK Consulting annexation fiscal analysis (Jul. 14 and Aug. 12, 2026)
  • Baker Tilly budget-retreat presentation to Council (Sep. 11, 2026)
  • S&P Global rating action (Jul. 16, 2026); Moody's (Sep. 2026, as reported)
  • Washington State Auditor report (Jul. 24, 2026)
  • Edmonds City Council records and votes (Dec. 2, 2025; Dec. 16, 2025; Jul. 28, 2026; Aug. 18, 2026)
  • Snohomish County Elections certified results (Nov. 2025)
  • NWMLS market snapshots (Aug.–Sep. 2026)
  • RCW 82.14.415; RCW 35A.14.470; RCW 35A.14.295–.299; Ch. 36.93 RCW
  • City of Edmonds Esperance Annexation page; HeraldNet reporting

Zoning and height comparisons are our own, from primary documents:

Correction, Oct. 2026: We previously said the County had excluded Esperance from its rezone, implying the issue was settled. A reader pointed out that the County drafted a separate Esperance rezone (Ord. 25-081) that is still pending. We've corrected the page and added the zoning comparison above. Thank you.

Spotted an error? Tell us and we'll correct it publicly.

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