A majority of the members of the Metropolitan King County Council agreed with the residents request for an additional study and funds were appropriated to hire a consultant for a Governance Alternatives Study to be prepared in the same timeframe as the financial feasibility study. In authorizing the study, the Council expressed its interest in assisting informed decision making by providing comprehensive information about the various governance choices available.

At the request of the BRB, the King County Office of Budget and Strategic Planning became the Project Manager for the Governance Alternatives Study. Several consultant firms responded to the Request for Proposal and the firm of Henderson, Young and Company was hired.

The study uses levels of service, taxes and charges, and expenditures per capita to contrast the circumstances of area residents if they are annexed by a neighboring city or continue in unincorporated King County. The study acknowledges that remaining unincorporated is a short term option under Washington State Growth Management objectives. However, the information in the study about costs and services in an unincorporated area is useful in considering the levels of service and expenditures per capita that would become the responsibility of a newly incorporated city.

The Governance Alternatives Study for the Sammamish Plateau contributes to the body of information available to residents of the area as they decide to vote for or against incorporation in November, 1998. This study and the City of Sammamish Financial Feasibility Study, when taken together, provide comprehensive information about governance under three scenarios:

• remaining in unincorporated King County;
• incorporating; or
• annexing over time to the adjacent cities of Redmond and Issaquah.