Current Issues — High Priority Focus
Financial Health – The City of Sammamish’s fiscal condition is precarious at best. We are not a community that can collect revenue from a large employer (e.g. Amazon, Microsoft, Costco) or retail center such as Bellevue Square. This is a blessing and a curse. We rely primarily on property taxes for support public safety, public works, and all the other services that residents expect. The costs and our spending would have exceed our revenue in 2028 if the Utiity Tax was not implemented. As expenses continue to rise and spending is not curtailed, the same fiscal threat looms in 2032. We must live within our means as a tax and spend approach always fails. No city can thrive when financially insolvent.
Growth / Housing / Town Center – Must the city grow to prosper? The City of Sammamish approved our Comprehensive Plan in 2024. It defines our vision, intent and guidelines for the next 20 years. The growth is targeted at 2100 dwellings. The coordination and integration of public safety, public works, land management, housing, transportation, parks and recreation, and economic development are sized concurrent within this growth. The city is currently evaluating an increase from 2000 to 4000 dwellings within the Town Center. We must verify that our city infrastructure and capital spending can handle the doubling of this target and the Comprehensive Plan must be revised accordingly. Years from now, we cannot look back with regret wondering how did we not think this through.
Governance – What is the proper role of city government and what is good governance? The city government is designed to manage local affairs and provide services and infrastructure that support the well-being, safety, and quality of life for its residents. It is not a platform to address national politics or partisan ideologies. Good governance is one where decisions are made and actions are taken that honor and protect the property rights of the residents, the freedoms of the citizens, the rule of law, and where personal responsibility is promoted. Our city government exists by the consent of the governed and should serve the will of the people. Sammamish would be a better place when our government understands its role, practices good governance, and stays within their jurisdictional lines.
