a) A petition circulated by the property owners and signed by property owners owning 60% of the property area subject to the petition. The annexation procedure is controlled by state law RCW chapter 57.24. This law provides that the petition must be signed by property owners who own 60% of the property within the area intended to be annexed to the District. The boundaries of the area included within the petition is an area determined by the property owners and the property owners may seek the assistance of the District in defining the boundaries. Should the petition fall short of the 60% required in signatures the Board of Commissioners, at its discretion, may reduce the area proposed for annexation.
 
Upon the property owners owning over 60% of real property within the area signing the petition, the petition may be delivered to the sewer district for its approval.
 
The District, upon certifying the signatures of the property owners owning 60% of the land within the area have signed the petition, shall then set a date for the hearing and publish notice for the hearing in a legal newspaper and post notice in three places within the proposed annexation area.
 
b) An Island Annexation whereby the Board of Commissioners determine whether or not the boundaries for the proposed area for annexation is surrounded by 80% or more of the corporate sewer district and the area is less than 100 acres.
 
At the annexation hearing the Board of Commissioners, of the sewer district, will explain to the public the annexation procedure and answer questions and receive input from the property owners regarding the annexation. If the district decides to proceed with the annexation and accepts the petition, then it will pass a resolution of intent to annex the area and will forward the resolution to the Boundary Review Board and to the King County council for the respective approvals. It takes approximately three months for the Boundary Review Board and the King County Council to approve the annexation. Following the county’s approval, the District will pass a resolution annexing the area into the District.
 
Upon being annexed, your area will then be included within the boundaries of Southwest Suburban Sewer District and you will have a voice in the governing of the sewer district and be able to vote at an election for your respective commissioners. You will not have to pay a service charge to the sewer district until such time as sewers are available to your property.

3. After your area has been annexed, the property owners can then request that a Utility Local Improvement District (ULID) be formed. A ULID is an entity which enables the District to construct sewers for your area.
 
4. SWSSD cannot expend District funds on un-annexed areas, so cost estimates for anticipated sewer projects and the related costs to each parcel cannot be calculated until the area is annexed.
 
5. The property owner circulating the petition is attempting to comply with procedures prescribed by state law, RCW 57.24 and required by the District. Under the petition method, the property owner is required to acquire signatures on the petition. By meeting this requirement of “property owner’s request”, the District will then be in a position to respond to your needs and meet its responsibilities.
 
A brief outlined schedule of events with probable timetable is as follows for your reference and use.

Annexation                            5 -  7 Months
ULID Formation & Engineering Design  12 - 18 Months
Bidding and Construction              5 -  7 Months
Service Available                    22 - 32 Months