Council asks public for feedback on Fire/Safety measures

Published 1:30 am Saturday, July 9, 2016

By the end of the month, Bellevue city council could make the decision to add two measures to the ballot this November.

Council has been looking for feedback via a survey about the measures, which would fill in the gap between capital projects and funding for transportation and fire services.

At the Tuesday, July 5 council meeting, early survey results from more than 450 Bellevue residents were presented to the council, with overwhelming favorability from respondents.

Council is likely to make a decision whether to add these to the ballot at the July 25 council meeting or shortly thereafter. Council members said they will take public response into consideration before action.

The first measure, the Neighborhood Safety and Connectivity Measure, “would fund construction of neighborhood sidewalks, paths and safe routes to school throughout the city to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety, and connect more neighborhoods to each other, to parks, and to schools.

If this measure were to pass, property taxes would increase on an average Bellevue home (valued at $640,000) by $80 a year. This comes out to about 12.5 cents per $1,000 of assessed home value.

Current respondents have a 69 percent favorability rating on this measure.

The second major measure is the Fire Facilities and Emergency Response measure, “which concerns funding for relocating and modernizing fire department facilities in Bellevue. This measure would authorize Bellevue to replace, remodel, or seismically strengthen fire stations throughout the city.”

The economic impact would be identical to the first measure, hitting the average Bellevue homeowner for $80 each year. This would collect $5.5 million per year in additional taxes over the next 20 years.

This is even more favorable to survey-respondents, at 71 percent approval.

The online survey will be available through July 31.

Bellevue is also looking for residents to write official statements for and against the potential ballot measures. These statements will be printed in the King County voter’s pamphlet along with the full text of the ballot measures.

Interested residents can either apply online, go to City hall, or call 425-452-6466 to request an application be mailed or faxed. Writers must be Bellevue residents and registered voters.