Correction: A previous version of this article misreported the Dec. 4 vote to approve a bond measure was 6 – 1. The vote was 5 – 1, with Councilmember Tom Sauvageau absent. The article has been updated.

The proposed Enumclaw community center is now in the hands of city voters.

After a brief delay, the Enumclaw City Council voted 5 – 1 on Dec. 4 to put a $19.5 million bond on the April 23, 2024 special election ballot. The sole “no” vote came from Councilmember Bobby Martinez, who during a previous meeting expressed concern about the tax impact on locals. Councilmember Tom Sauvageau was absent.

If passed by voters, the bond will construct a new home for the local senior center, the Enumclaw Chamber of Commerce, the Visitor’s Center, the Arts Alive! nonprofit, and offices for the city’s Parks and Rec Department.

Additionally, the building — planned to be built along Initial Avenue, between Cole Street and Railroad Street — which will also feature an open-air pavilion, a covered commons area/event space, various instructional spaces, and a full-sized gym.

The bond will only affect those living in Enumclaw’s city limits, which also means they’re the only ones who can vote on the measure.

In order for the bond to pass, there are two hurdles that must be overcome.

HIGH BARS

First, there needs to be a certain total numbers of voters that cast a ballot in the election, and second, 60% of those who participate need to approve the bond; if neither marker is met, the bond does not pass.

Meeting both requirements is likely to be challenging for community center supporters.

The last special election city of Enumclaw voters participated in was February 2022 when the Enumclaw School District put a levy measure on the ballot.

Only 1,890 voters inside Enumclaw’s city limits participated in that election; 3,679 will need to participate in the April 2024 special election in order to validate the community center bond vote.

Additionally, getting locals to support tax increases has been difficult in itself; only 43% of ballots cast by city voters supported a $103 million Enumclaw School District bond for a new local elementary school in the last election, and just 53% of the same voters supported renewing King County’s Veterans, Seniors, and Human Services Levy in the last August primary — enough to renew the levy that taxed 10 cents per $1,000 in assessed property value, but not close to the necessary supermajority for the bond vote.

DOLLARS AND CENTS

It’s one thing to support a county levy that taxes the median local homeowners roughly $84 a year for six years — a total of $504 — and a local bond that is estimated to be four times that.

According to city officials, the whole project is estimated to cost $21 million, but the city is using some of its own funds to bring the bond down to $19.5 million.

For taxpayers, this would mean an estimated additional property tax of 28 cents per $1,000 in assessed property value; the annual bill for homeowners with $500,000 in assessed property value (which is different than market value) would be $140 per year. The length of the bond is up to 29 years for a total of $4,060.

While Enumclaw isn’t banking on any additional revenue — officials have said they don’t want to run into the same issue the Enumclaw School District did in 2015, when a bond that passed by just four votes ended up not funding a new high school gym and performing arts center — the city plans to buy the bond in two parts.

That way, if any other revenue sources, like grants or private donations — become available, the bond rate can be reduced and taxpayer burden lessened.

Mayor Jan Molinaro has stressed that even though the city would need taxpayer support for this project, that all those tax dollars would stay local, as opposed to being used all around the county.

Part of the community center would include a new senior center, seen here being accessible from the nearby parking lot. Image courtesy the city of Enumclaw

MONEY, MOUTHES, AND POTENTIAL SUPPORT

One thing bond supporters might be banking on is that the idea of a community center, and possible local support for it, has been floating around for decades.

When the city was still just discussing the possibility of a community center back in November 2022, Councilmember Chance La Fleur, who has served on council since 2011, said he’d collected enough anecdotal evidence of people wanting this sort of communal space to lead him to finally look into the idea.

“This has been talked about for so long. I have copies of the Railroad Promenade study from 1994? This has been three decades of talk and conjecture,” he said at the time. “At some point, we either need to fish or cut bait. And I think, let’s see if the voters want us to go fishing.”

Another potential positive for those who want a community center is that the building will support both the local senior and youth populations.

According to the senior center, more than 700 seniors are “regular visitors”, and more that are registered.

Many of those seniors find the building inadequate for various needs, senior center resource coordinator Janine Carpenter said in a recent interview, like the lack of parking and event space — there are times when pool players are jostling elbows (figuratively, though not by much) with seniors getting hair cuts or other similar services.

City officials have said that the 1928-era building, which was first built as a garment factory and then repurposed to a senior center in the early 1980s, is simply not worth the amount of money it would take to modernize it without the possibility of expanding its footprint to accomadate Enumclaw’s growing senior population.

According to 2022 data, there’s estimated to be more than 2,300 seniors inside city limits, a sizable pocket of potential support.

Then there’s the youths — especially those that are enrolled in Enumclaw’s Parks and Rec sports programs.

According Parks and Rec Director Alina Hibbs, the sports programs, like the youth basketball league, currently uses Enumclaw School District facilities in order to host games — but those facilities are only open during the afternoons and evenings during the week, which means some teams don’t get to play.

Expanding the program with a full gym would allow several sports leagues to expand, as well as the summer Camp Commotion day program.

Youths 18 and younger make up 21.5% of Enumclaw population, or about 2,700 kids. Though they can’t vote, parent support for a community center could be strong, as other organized youth activities are lacking in the area.

Finally, Councilmember Chris Gruner said that while Enumclaw’s downtown has been able to enjoy events on undeveloped lots, officials are expecting those lots will soon be occupied — a large community center, then, can be the new place to hold events for all ages to retain the city’s “small town” feel.