One and the same | Sammamish City Council votes 6-1 to annex Klahanie Jan. 1, 2016

Come the new year, Klahanie residents will finally be part of a city — and they can expect some much-needed attention from King County in the interim.

Come the new year, Klahanie residents will finally be part of a city — and can expect some much-needed attention from King County in the interim.

The Sammamish City Council voted Tuesday 6-1 to annex about 11,000 people into the city Jan. 1, 2016. This comes after the April special election, where Klahanie voters showed their support at the polls with an overwhelming majority, about 86 percent, in favor of annexation.

In the meantime, King County officials have agreed to maintain the parks and roads, among other areas, through the end of the year, according to a letter the county sent City Manager Ben Yazici. This work is valued at $340,400.

The county has committed to maintaining Klahanie Park, including irrigating, seeding and fertilizing, at an estimated cost of $40,000. Typically, the county stops irrigating the park during the summer as a cost-saving measure, Yazici said.

County crews are expected to seal cracks, among other things, along Southeast Klahanie Boulevard. In places where the road is “completely failing,” Yazici said, the county is slated to do some deep patching.

For example, warped pavement and sidewalks along 230th Place Southeast are set to be repaired. Roadwork on Klahanie Boulevard and 230th Place is estimated to cost $144,000.

The county brought Klahanie storm drainage systems up to Sammamish codes, which cost approximately $51,400.

Yazici listed several other projects, including 16 sections where the county will patch potholes throughout the roughly 2-square-mile triangle annexation area.

Additionally, Yazici reported that the King County Sheriff’s Office agreed to fast track hiring the six extra officers needed. Four officers, one more than previously thought, will be ready by early January 2016, with the others joining the following two months.

“This is a good deal for Klahanie residents. This is a good deal for Sammamish residents,” Yazici said. “I could not do some of the services the county agreed to do between now and January 2016. … I don’t have internal capacity.”

Councilmember Ramiro Valderrama-Aramayo, the lone opposition vote, wanted the July 31 annexation date. He said there was an “expectation” that residents would be able to vote in the November election; he also said annexing later would blunder an opportunity to collect close to $3 million in revenues from now until 2016.

Yazici has said on several occasions that the city promised Klahanie residents two things: lower taxes, which they will get in 2016 regardless of an earlier annexation date, and improved services. He denies any allegation that the city is trying to take the right to vote away from Klahanie residents; the November election has only recently come into play.

Yazici also stressed the need for sensitivity, as a large portion the aforementioned revenues would be diverted from Fire District 10.

About $750,000 in fire services paid to District 10 would be diverted to Sammamish had the council agreed to annex by the end of the month. As it is, the fire district is expected to lose $1.27 million annually in tax revenues, according to the Butkus Consulting Inc. financial report the city paid for last year.

“District 10 is our partner, Council, in Eastside Fire & Rescue,” Yazici said. “We’re trying to take money away from District 10, who is desperately crying right now to say that ‘We cannot sustain in the long term due to this annexation.’”

Annually, the city expects to collect about $6.5 million in revenues from the Klahanie annexation area. Of that, about $1.4 million will be a net gain; the city plans to put that money back into the area by repairing Southeast Issaquah-Fall City Road.

To watch the city council meeting, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiJPBNd5SG4.