Whatcom County has released its draft Birch Bay incorporation feasibility study that depicts a future city that would not have a strong enough sales tax base to keep its budget balanced. The long-awaited study, however, has drawn concerns from the Birch Bay Incorporation Association (BBIA), whose representatives believe the study does not provide realistic scenarios for the community.
Whatcom County hired consultants Community Attributes, Inc. and Maul, Foster and Alongi to update the county’s previous Birch Bay incorporation feasibility study, which was completed during the last serious incorporation attempt in 2008.
The updated report, dated December 10, dives into a future city’s projected services as well as the revenues and expenditures needed to support those services.
The draft feasibility study found that while Birch Bay had a strong property tax base, the area had low sales tax revenue that would create a budget deficit. The future city’s largest expenditure would be its police force, estimated to cost $2.5 million to $3.1 million from 2027 to 2032. The preliminary study found the city would start with a $1.95 million deficit in its general fund, which pays for the police and other daily municipal operations, and that deficit would grow to $2.44 million by 2032.
Birch Bay Incorporation Association founder Matt Berry wrote in a December 12 statement to Whatcom County Executive Satpal Sidhu and Whatcom County Council that the association’s steering committee was displeased with how the feasibility study laid out projected price points for a future Birch Bay city. Some of the committee’s biggest concerns were that the study didn’t reflect the community’s interest in starting with a barebones government structure, and examples of what the committee considered “realistic” government models were either buried or left out of the report. Berry said the community wanted to propose a city that relied heavily on contracts, opposed to an expensive bureaucracy.
“One community member remarked that you’re ‘presenting us with the Cadillac when all we need is the Kia,’” Berry wrote to Sidhu and the council.
Berry said the committee found the study misleading in a way that discouraged incorporation. In his email to the county officials, Berry linked a video of Sidhu saying, “it should not be a city because we get all of the tax revenue” during a February 20 elected officials meeting in Bellingham.
The steering committee unanimously voted to hire an independent consultant to respond to the study. On December 15, Berry emailed Sidhu and Whatcom County Council again with the group’s comments. Among its six requests, the association requested the final report include four scenarios for the financial model instead of only listing the most expensive scenario in the final summary and a spreadsheet showing a bottom-line budget if all services remained at their current levels.
Community Attributes, Inc. and Maul, Foster and Alongi were scheduled to present the feasibility study during a remote study session on December 17 (after press time). The meeting was expected to be recorded.
To view the full Birch Bay incorporation feasibility study, visit Whatcom County’s project webpage at bit.ly/44z19G5.
