BREMERTON — The City of Bremerton could begin reaching out to the public soon regarding its annexation plans.

Bremerton is surrounded by many large, unincorporated Urban Growth Areas — places designated by long-range regional and state plans to accommodate population growth — and the city is looking at bringing some of those areas into the city limits.

“We are definitely interested in annexation,” City Planner Allison Satter said.

According to Satter, annexation has been on the future goals list for the Bremerton City Council and mayor for a while now. She’s been tasked with looking into the process of annexation and figuring out how they’ll move forward.

They’re now focusing on West Bremerton areas such as Gorst and Rocky Point, but Satter said nothing will happen quickly nor will it happen without the agreement of residents.

Satter described the petition method as the one they plan to move forward with when the time comes.

“We’re going to be starting this educational outreach,” she said, “to say, ‘Hey, Rocky Point and Gorst … this would be the impact if you were to annex into the city. This is the benefit you’d see as a property owner.’ ”

There are, of course, pros and cons to annexing into a city. Satter said the benefits include:

• More representation through the city (including seven council members and a mayor) versus Kitsap County representation (three commissioners per 250,000 people).
• Urban services such as sidewalks, parks, community centers, sewer service, etc. Satter explained that all these services would not be implemented immediately upon annexation, but phased in over time as resources allow.
• Emergency services, including police, fire and EMS. Satter said response time for these emergency services is “typically faster when the city is responding than the county.” She added that in Gorst, an agreement may be made between Bremerton emergency services and Port Orchard emergency services to ensure the fastest response time, given Gorst’s the close proximity to Port Orchard’s city limits.

On the negative side of annexation:

• Different tax rates. Property tax rates could change, depending on where a person lives in a formerly unincorporated area. “Sometimes, it’s not paying more … but sometimes it is,” Satter said. The city is working on creating information fliers to explain what the tax changes would be. The information would be tailored to each specific area ensuring the community is as well-informed as possible.

No concrete plans have yet been made to annex any particular area, but Satter said she hopes the educational outreach will start at the end of 2016 or in early 2017.

Before the outreach can begin to inform the public and receive feedback, Satter said the city is working to gain the support of Kitsap County, after which they’ll begin the process.

If and when the city receives at least 60 percent approval, then a lengthy process begins. First, the City Council has to set a resolution and pass it. The petition then goes to the Kitsap County Boundary Review Board, which has 45 days to review and comment. After that is completed, it goes back to the Bremerton City Council, which has 30 days to gain approval from the Office of Financial Management. Only then will annexation be confirmed, Satter said.

“It’s about four months, in the best case scenario,” Satter said. “It’s nothing quick, and it’s definitely public … If we did go forward with annexation, everyone would be (given) notice.”

Though the City of Bremerton is currently focusing its attention in West Bremerton, it also is working to create informational handouts and flyers for East Bremerton areas, as well, in preparation when the time comes.

For more information about Bremerton’s annexation goals, visit www.bremertonwa.gov/annexation.

Michelle Beahm is a reporter for the Central Kitsap Reporter and Bremerton Patriot. She can be reached at mbeahm@soundpublishing.com.