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Analysis provided by: by contract with: 
King County Ofce o Management & Budget
Analysis of the Financial Feasibility of the Proposed City of Fairwood
Final Report January 17, 2006
 
Principals:
Bonnie Berk and Michael Hodgins
Project Team:
Marty Wine, Brett Sheckler, Kapena Pfum,Natasha Fedo, Meghann Glavin
Founded in 1988, we are a multi-disciplinary strategy and analysis frmproviding integrated, creative and analytically rigorous approaches tocomplex policy and planning decisions. Our team o strategic planners,policy and fnancial analysts, economists, cartographers, inormationdesigners and acilitators work together to bring new ideas, clarity androbust rameworks to challenging situations, and to communicate ourfndings clearly and accessibly to multiple audiences.
“Helping Communities and Organizations Create Their Best Futures” 
Prepared by:BERK & ASSOCIATES
120 Lakeside AvenueSuite 200Seattle, Washington 98122P (206) 324-8760
www.berkandassociates.com
 
FINAL REPORT
Fairwood Feasibility Study Page 1Berk & Associates, Inc. for King County January 17, 2006 
ANALYSIS OF THE FINANCIAL FEASIBILITY OF THE PROPOSED CITY OF FAIRWOOD
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 
Purpose and Mandate of the Analysis
In February 2005, a group of citizens in the Fairwood area completed signature-gathering for apetition to place the incorporation of the City of Fairwood on the ballot. The group collected nearly2,300 signatures and filed the Notice of Intent to Incorporate with the Washington State BoundaryReview Board of King County, beginning the process to allow for Boundary Review Board review andfor a 2006 public vote among Fairwood residents on the question of incorporation.In early 2005, the King County Office of Management and Budget contracted with Berk & AssociatesInc., a consulting firm, to analyze the financial feasibility of the proposed City of Fairwood.
1
 This assessment of the financial feasibility of Fairwood incorporation is provided as a referencedocument for members of the public, both inside and outside of the proposed incorporation area,and for members of the King County Boundary Review Board (BRB). The purposes of this study are:1.
 
To inform the Boundary Review Board as it considers its recommendation regarding Fairwoodincorporation;2.
 
To inform Fairwood residents as they make a decision whether to vote for or againstincorporation; and3.
 
To inform the broader public.This study answers two straightforward questions:
1.
 
Is it financially feasible to incorporate a new City of Fairwood? 2.
 
What are the potential implications of incorporation on local taxes and levels of service? 
To answer these questions, the analysis team modeled annual revenues and costs of a hypotheticalCity of Fairwood. To give residents a meaningful point of comparison, the study seeks to answer thequestion in the context of the status quo:
How do the financial realities of incorporation compare with the status quo (remaining unincorporated)? 
1
The County undertook a governance study for the area in 2000, and determined that this study should therefore focusprimarily on the question of financial feasibility. Findings from the prior 2000 Petrovitsky Governance Study can be found athttp://www.metrokc.gov/budget/tranteam/petrovitsky/study/pcgs.htm.
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