You call this a Happy New Year? 12/31/2024

Some bits of business…

HAPPY NEW YEAR, DES MOINES! OK, this is also no ‘Weekly Update’. It’s not even all that ‘happy’. There are certainly no resolutions. Some might call it a bunch o’ rando bits o’ business! I’d call it part deux of last week’s ‘economic development’ rant. 😀 Still, I hope you find it interesting.

When it comes to urban planning, AI really delivers

¹Before we get into the serious stuff, this cover image tickles me no end. All I asked for was a “Happy New Year Card”. But apparently, ChatGPT decided that our little town deserved several upgrades. I ask you to take a moment and zoom in. Going by this, once again, we are celebrating with totally awesome pyrotechnics. The town has been rebuilt to look even more like Leavenworth than Leavenworth, replete with a shopping boardwalk and medieval bell tower! The Marina Activity Tent has been moved out to fairway and now includes a working lighthouse! Just beyond, the jetty now supports a floating bridge providing convenient transit from Redondo all the way over to Normandy Park. And beyond that? Three Tree Point is now a set of 19th Century working docks! It’s like a Christmas episode of Here Comes The Brides that just keeps going and going. Perhaps best of all, Mt. Rainier has (sensibly) replaced the Olympic Mountains, providing even better views for all our residents. Last week I asked us to start thinking more about ‘urban planning’. Well, AI really delivers! 😀

Marina Parking Rates 2025

I’m putting this on the Links page, along with basically everything you ever wanted to know about Des Moines but were afraid to ask.

Oklahoma City

This interview with the Mayor of Oklahoma City is one of the most interesting podcasts I’ve heard in a while. Oklahoma City stole our basketball team. Since then, the Thunder have been doing very well. But that’s not the point. The point is how they’ve handled economic development. I had to (emphasis on the had to) visit OKC many years ago and the joke was that it was the furthest thing from OK. Since then, the transformation via their MAPS initiatives has been pretty amazing. A couple of guides they used along the way:

They build some amenities to be functional, and some just to be cool.
But it’s a pay as you go deal. They always went to the voters for the taxes to pay for it. They did not issue debt for these kinds of projects. Which is rough because you were asking people to pay for taxes for years before they could see anything getting built. So, they had to sell the idea and keep selling it. It’s less efficient, but it built trust. And after seeing so many failed attempts, their voters decided a long time ago that trust was the key.
Along those same lines, they run everything through what is essentially a public planning commission. It’s not just a trust deal, it’s a skills deal. They recognised that community expertise makes their projects better.

Tax Exempt table goes here…

I’m putting this breakdown of property values by city here to emphasise a point I’ve been trying to make for-ehveeeeer about Des Moines. We have, essentially, the highest amount of tax-exempt land of any suburb in King County. It was one of those choices you make along the line you don’t realise you’re making, but end up having to live with.

JURISDICTION	TOT APPR VAL	TOT TAX VAL	TOT EX VAL	TOT EX VAL%	COMM TAXABLE	COMM EXEMPT	COMM TAX %	COMM EX %	RES TAXABLE	RES EXEMPT	RES TAX %	RES EX %	Total %
ALGONA	920,140,196	891,504,500	28,635,696	3.1121014085119	498,039,200	22,851,000	0.54126447487574	0.024834259061105	393,465,300	5,784,696	0.42761451103914	0.0062867550240138	1
AUBURN	17,475,588,098	14,758,628,790	2,716,959,308	15.547169530226	7,273,864,565	2,521,713,518	0.4162300303835	0.14429920777823	7,484,764,225	195,245,790	0.42829827431425	0.01117248752403	1
BEAUX ARTS	285,891,000	284,273,000	1,618,000	0.56594995994977	-	-	#VALUE!	#VALUE!	284,273,000	1,618,000	0.9943405004005	0.0056594995994977	#VALUE!
BELLEVUE	97,666,841,734	90,063,367,804	7,603,473,930	7.7851129359833	42,243,521,444	6,754,442,376	0.43252674801395	0.069157989099269	47,819,846,360	849,031,554	0.48962212262622	0.0086931402605643	1
BLACK DIAMOND	2,168,866,052	2,066,582,632	102,283,420	4.715986028998	193,474,622	60,907,478	0.089205426873453	0.028082636981585	1,873,108,010	41,375,942	0.86363471283657	0.019077223308395	1
BOTHELL	10,156,262,264	9,041,668,224	1,114,594,040	10.974451141842	3,876,245,920	996,145,610	0.38166067587086	0.098081910855232	5,165,422,304	118,448,430	0.50859481271072	0.011662600563187	1
BURIEN	11,593,290,579	10,266,655,382	1,326,635,197	11.44312900604	2,527,673,492	1,163,097,687	0.21802899485489	0.10032506983883	7,738,981,890	163,537,510	0.66753971508472	0.014106220221568	1
CARNATION	660,528,583	578,651,352	81,877,231	12.395713540227	65,824,153	70,166,947	0.099653754120736	0.1062284794419	512,827,199	11,710,284	0.776389110477	0.017728655960373	1
CLYDE HILL	4,389,712,700	4,199,078,200	190,634,500	4.3427557343331	5,477,900	158,826,800	0.0012478948793164	0.036181593387649	4,193,600,300	31,807,700	0.95532454777735	0.0072459639556821	1
COVINGTON	4,753,350,375	4,141,478,099	611,872,276	12.872442124572	628,681,600	561,402,500	0.13226073198949	0.11810669437554	3,512,796,499	50,469,776	0.73901484676479	0.010617726870176	1
DES MOINES	7,144,458,831	5,836,688,638	1,307,770,193	18.304678127972	1,591,560,300	1,212,046,100	0.22276848920931	0.16964841266086	4,245,128,338	95,724,093	0.59418472951097	0.013398368618859	1
DUVALL	2,441,862,909	2,348,381,443	93,481,466	3.8282847761623	232,179,900	66,269,300	0.095083101980972	0.027138829029161	2,116,201,543	27,212,166	0.86663405025741	0.011144018732462	1
ENUMCLAW	2,837,286,919	2,463,523,950	373,762,969	13.173252465131	679,758,700	342,184,400	0.23958052865502	0.1206026777583	1,783,765,250	31,578,569	0.62868694669367	0.011129846893006	1
FEDERAL WAY	18,862,473,057	16,538,728,769	2,323,744,288	12.319404146943	6,041,229,478	2,114,975,400	0.32027769952244	0.11212609256532	10,497,499,291	208,768,888	0.55652825900813	0.011067948904109	1
HUNTS POINT	1,782,653,997	1,759,406,500	23,247,497	1.3040947395918	-	-	#VALUE!	#VALUE!	1,759,406,500	23,247,497	0.98695905260408	0.013040947395918	#VALUE!
ISSAQUAH	17,931,616,586	16,378,309,740	1,553,306,846	8.6623915838839	7,566,821,990	1,456,354,320	0.42198214275381	0.081217123565816	8,811,487,750	96,952,526	0.49139394140735	0.0054067922730232	1
KENMORE	7,584,474,782	6,960,639,743	623,835,039	8.2251580621051	1,149,095,980	491,383,000	0.15150633537962	0.064788006305484	5,811,543,763	132,452,039	0.76624208399932	0.017463574315567	1
KENT	33,867,484,206	30,665,462,433	3,202,021,773	9.4545604672718	17,367,087,196	2,935,390,337	0.51279531394668	0.086672819248852	13,298,375,237	266,631,436	0.3926590813806	0.0078727854238657	1
KING COUNTY	77,454,812,441	69,679,491,963	7,775,320,478	10.038524699705	4,481,190,558	3,216,423,579	0.057855547212298	0.041526452361499	65,198,301,405	4,558,896,899	0.84175920579065	0.058858794635552	1
KIRKLAND	46,894,598,341	43,306,930,696	3,587,667,645	7.6504923209104	15,274,846,056	3,201,328,689	0.32572719665764	0.068266469961447	28,032,084,640	386,338,956	0.59776788013325	0.0082384532476574	1
LAKE FOREST PARK	4,530,295,340	4,366,269,256	164,026,084	3.6206488029983	301,140,600	90,703,400	0.066472619862351	0.020021520274658	4,065,128,656	73,322,684	0.89732089210767	0.016184967755325	1
MAPLE VALLEY	6,625,151,137	6,296,046,307	329,104,830	4.9675067510841	817,633,082	289,589,892	0.1234134988157	0.043710684633699	5,478,413,225	39,514,938	0.82691143367346	0.0059643828771419	1
MEDINA	6,864,890,400	6,619,440,151	245,450,249	3.5754430835487	34,153,500	131,224,900	0.004975097635936	0.019115367085831	6,585,286,651	114,225,349	0.95927047152858	0.016639063749656	1
MERCER ISLAND	21,157,949,054	20,178,007,089	979,941,965	4.6315546109831	2,143,138,814	563,908,686	0.10129237047174	0.026652332159453	18,034,868,275	416,033,279	0.85239208341843	0.019663213950378	1
MILTON	523,501,800	494,812,200	28,689,600	5.4803249960172	304,873,200	26,357,600	0.58237278267238	0.050348632994194	189,939,000	2,332,000	0.36282396736745	0.004454616965978	1
NEWCASTLE	5,382,272,063	5,216,626,600	165,645,463	3.077612225118	1,369,565,770	103,679,330	0.25445866614863	0.019263115796902	3,847,060,830	61,966,133	0.71476521160019	0.011513006454278	1
NORMANDY PARK	2,622,219,798	2,538,219,546	84,000,252	3.2034024021963	179,973,600	55,200,600	0.06863406345161	0.021051095732746	2,358,245,946	28,799,652	0.89933191252643	0.010982928289217	1
NORTH BEND	2,912,429,175	2,774,805,373	137,623,802	4.7253956656302	744,696,174	113,434,109	0.25569589138593	0.038948280690809	2,030,109,199	24,189,693	0.69705015195777	0.0083056759654937	1
PACIFIC	993,149,899	939,237,200	53,912,699	5.4284553675417	227,721,900	28,554,900	0.22929257731315	0.028751853097656	711,515,300	25,357,799	0.71642286901144	0.02553270057776	1
REDMOND	37,805,387,480	34,560,907,372	3,244,480,108	8.582057543297	19,903,873,279	2,929,050,642	0.52648245675381	0.077477069731121	14,657,034,093	315,429,466	0.38769696781322	0.0083435057018492	1
RENTON	29,527,379,099	26,196,171,524	3,331,207,575	11.281758410833	10,980,189,797	3,067,763,845	0.37186469412627	0.10389556874365	15,215,981,727	263,443,730	0.5153177217654	0.0089220153646797	1
SAMMAMISH	29,243,515,533	28,374,654,328	868,861,205	2.9711243301768	2,223,615,600	642,210,720	0.076037903086267	0.021960790564845	26,151,038,728	226,650,485	0.89425085361196	0.0077504527369233	1
SEATAC	9,263,375,715	5,601,974,125	3,661,401,590	39.525565006191	2,873,162,825	3,590,563,500	0.31016369338745	0.38760853607458	2,728,811,300	70,838,090	0.29458065655064	0.0076471139873225	1
SEATTLE	364,245,340,561	288,811,027,400	75,434,313,161	20.709753773327	138,382,388,697	71,998,905,009	0.37991532982651	0.19766596025116	150,428,638,703	3,435,408,152	0.41298713244022	0.0094315774821138	1
SHORELINE	17,314,596,500	14,590,172,055	2,724,424,445	15.734842247118	2,937,860,921	2,393,179,978	0.16967539041409	0.13821748476784	11,652,311,134	331,244,467	0.67297618711473	0.019130937703342	1
SKYKOMISH	55,073,100	47,960,110	7,112,990	12.915543159909	5,391,310	5,313,790	0.097893708543736	0.096486124805032	42,568,800	1,799,200	0.77295085985717	0.032669306794061	1
SNOQUALMIE	5,005,201,220	4,464,069,830	541,131,390	10.811381325444	828,372,130	489,335,370	0.16550226326365	0.097765374156126	3,635,697,700	51,796,020	0.7263839234819	0.010348439098319	1
TUKWILA	10,062,097,642	8,436,535,352	1,625,562,290	16.155302282248	6,583,656,052	1,564,126,800	0.65430254070675	0.1554473883727	1,852,879,300	61,435,490	0.18414443647077	0.0061056344497755	1
WOODINVILLE	6,447,779,900	6,074,536,204	373,243,696	5.7887164541705	3,147,311,275	335,941,100	0.48812324921327	0.052101825001812	2,927,224,929	37,302,596	0.45398958624503	0.0057853395398934	1
YARROW POINT	2,101,869,200	2,076,678,500	25,190,700	1.1984903722839	0	19,366,100	0	0.0092137512648266	2,076,678,500	5,824,600	0.98801509627716	0.0027711524580121	1

So what?

We have somewhere between 12k and 13k housing units. But less than 7,000 taxpaying single family homes. So when you add it all up:

Our property tax is only a third of our budget, not the almost two thirds it was back in the dark ages.
We depend on a very small number of homeowners to power our property tax.
By some reasoning known only to the gods (and the county tax assessor) commercial properties generate less tax per sq ft. than homes.
And the land we offer to developers always comes with big discounts and tax abatements.

In short, our land is not productive. And that places the real burden for fiscal health on…

Utilities
Fees (dog licenses, traffic tickets)
Construction (one-time sales tax)
Business taxes (recurring, fairly predictable)
Retail taxes (recurring, fairly predictable)

The problem with construction sales tax is that a) there isn’t that much land and b) you’re expecting things to wear out every 25 years or so, which is not great environmentally. So you’re basically looking for a constant stream of places to tear down and rebuild and re-purpose. Fine. Where are these? And what do you put in their place? Do you just keep building to build – the way my generation used to buy a new car every three years?

The point I keep trying to drive home is this: Suburbs like Des Moines did not care about this kind of discussion back in the day. You literally could not find anyone to discuss “how much money should our city be making”. Considering the ‘economic efficiency’ of land just was not a part of the thought process. In my opinion, it now must be unless you simply want to tax people the true market rate of what it costs to provide the services people say they want.

Get it? Take a business like our region’s commercial aviation sector. The cost of your ticket to Oklahoma City is about half what it should be if America really was a ‘free market’ paradise. The other half is covered by

A variety of Federal subsidies the airlines get from the government
Their ability to charge a la carte now for all those ‘amenities’ like checked baggage and everything down to peanuts and water.
And most importantly, huge (and I do mean huge) payments from credit card companies as part of the ‘frequent flyer miles’ scam we’ve all come to depend upon.

Until recently cities like Des Moines never had this kind of discussion. It was just assumed that there would be a constant stream of building on all the undeveloped land, and then property taxes would do most of the heavy lifting. In other words, the last century.

But what do you do in a town once it is mostly developed and where property taxes now play a much smaller role? In 2024, you cannot afford to not discuss how to fund the amenities people expect in a fundamentally new way. Otherwise, your only choice is to either a) continue running into financial problems every 5-7 years or charge the real ‘per seat’ cost of running a city.

We have to think strategically about how much income each decision we make affects the community. Otherwise, only the wealthiest people will be able to afford to fly… er… live in Des Moines.

Downtown Businesses…

There are two new businesses in Backstage Alley along 225th: Iris and Peony Flowers (underneath the apartments in the Theatre building), and Patti’s Gift Shop next to Creole Soul. (Smoothies coming soon!) 🙂

Since you don’t get feelgood news on this site without a side o’ veg, it also appears that Candace’s Vietnamese on 223rd is no more. 🙁

But on the other hand, according to contractors furiously sheet rocking, a new Italian restaurant is coming in ‘three months!’ 🙂

And on the fourth hand, this will be the second Italian-themed restaurant in that spot; and probably the seventh since I’ve lived here. And despite voting to name the alley ‘Backstage’, it’s still not showing the proper address on Google Maps – which makes promotion even more challenging. 🙁

2025 has gotsta be the year we start doing more meaningful work to cross-promote our downtown. All the businesses working together. Better signage. Not because any of it will ever ‘pay the bills’. It won’t. It can’t. But again, because a functioning downtown is what residents expect. One has to think of the downtown like properly functioning parks. It will be up to the City to help these businesses survive otherwise you’ll continue to have ribbon cuttings on the same spots every 2-3 years. It’s like replacing your lawn every 2-3 years. They cannot do it organically. The airlines figured this out a long time ago and so did the FAA. They need each other and are willing to support one another. We need to start thinking the same.

The SAMP shifts gear

The SAMP is the generational decision for Des Moines. It should be a key part of the above strategy. If you haven’t, I hope you’ll follow Sea-Tac Noise.Info, which, as part of its Legislative Agenda, is pushing the state to open a pathway to more funding from the Port of Seattle to cities like Des Moines. Your personal interest may be noise and/or pollution. I get it. But as your representative, my interest is also in what the airport does to the City. And the fact is, the airport has lowered our tax base, lowered our public health, increased our public safety needs. In other words, it has made it more expensive for us to serve you.

As part of the Port of Seattle, the airport is only responsible to the voters of King County. What I find a bit ironic is how much contempt so many people have an understandable disdain for ‘King County’ when it comes to public safety. But residents here don’t seem to make that same connection with the Port Its service area is also King County. And it has the same lack of accountability issues. We in Des Moines suffer because the Port provides benefits to the rest of King County.

The SAMP is a chance to rebalance that equation. And even if you don’t see the path to get there, I hope you will support the notion that this is a necessary goal.

Middle Housing

And since property tax is the life blood of cities like Des Moines. And since we (me and the Queen) support housing in Des Moines.

The public open house will take place on January 15th from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM at the Des Moines Activity Center, 2045 216th Street, Des Moines, WA 98198.

Please feel free to contact dmplanning@desmoineswa.gov with any questions.

You can RSVP for the public open house at www.DesMoinesMiddleHousing.com. We hope to see you at the event!

¹Just to be fair, here is what ChatGPT came up with for Federal Way. Apparently the AI has certain ideas about Christmas in the Great Northwest. I do think it’s interesting all the details it gave to Des Moines. Remember: AI is trained on data from somewhere. If I had to guess, I’d say that ChatGPT threw in all those extra Des Moines doodads because that is how people talk about Des Moines. It’s a (slightly 😀 ) exaggerated representation of how much people like the Marina – or how they wish it was like.