Officials outline UTGO bond, station costs and tax scenarios as Bothell weighs joining Shoreline RFA

City and RFA finance and operations staff spent the bulk of the meeting explaining how a potential Bothell annexation into the Shoreline Regional Fire Authority would work financially — what existing levies and bonds would mean, how reserves and liabilities could be treated, and preliminary tax‑impact scenarios for homeowners.

Bothell Finance Director Kwan Wong and City Manager Kyle Standard summarized the key mechanics: existing voter-approved bonds that finance two Bothell stations would remain on Bothell’s books until they retire (the city would keep collecting those bond payments), and some collections would continue to be processed by Bothell in the near term even if voters later approve annexation. City and RFA staff described that administrative agreements would be used to transfer collections and reconcile payments while timing is sorted.

Shoreline Chief Matt Cowan urged that capital needs — notably a proposed South Bothell station and a northwest Shoreline site — could be addressed by a voter-approved UTGO (unlimited tax general obligation) bond across the RFA, which would spread costs districtwide and reduce per‑taxpayer impact compared with Bothell financing stations alone. Cowan gave a planning-range estimate for a South Bothell station of roughly $20 million for construction plus $4–5 million for property, describing a total project cost in the neighborhood of $25 million in today's dollars.

On tax impact, staff presented four top-line scenarios with different assumptions about whether Bothell would reduce its general levy by a fire-equivalent share when it cedes taxing authority. Using an illustrative $1 million assessed‑value home as an anchor, examples given in the meeting ranged from a few hundred dollars a year to roughly $1,100 a year per $1M of assessed value in higher-cost scenarios if Bothell did not reduce its levy. Staff emphasized these were high-level estimates designed to be refined and asked council members which more granular breakdowns they wanted (single‑family, multifamily, commercial, and impact‑charge variants).

Liability and legacy obligations drew careful questions. Speakers raised "left one" retiree medical liabilities (obligations tied to older public retirement rules) as an item that could be transferred or remain with the city depending on negotiation; staff said GASB 75 calculations are required to quantify that obligation and cited Northshore's prior transfer experience where similar liabilities were negotiated.

Next steps: staff will produce more granular tax‑impact modeling by property class, a precise accounting of outstanding bond balances and timelines, and a GASB‑compliant estimate of legacy liabilities to support negotiations and public communications ahead of any ballot decision.