Know what’s happening in Kirkland, without watching the four-hour meeting.
Plain-language summaries of council and planning decisions, source documents you can check yourself, and the deadlines that matter to your neighborhood.
UPDATED MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2026
This week in Kirkland
Tue, Oct 13 · Civil Service Commission meeting. Its regular second-Tuesday meeting.
Wed, Oct 14 · Kirkland Alliance of Neighborhoods meeting. Neighborhood association leaders meet monthly.
Thu, Oct 15 · Hearing Examiner meeting. 10 a.m., hybrid.
Fri, Oct 16 · General election ballots go out by today. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov 3, and drop boxes close at 8 p.m.
Tue, Oct 20 · City Council meeting. Study session 5:30 p.m., regular meeting 7:30 p.m., City Hall and Zoom.
Latest meeting recaps
Latest articles
EXPLAINER · TAXES
Where Your Kirkland Property Tax Goes
The City of Kirkland gets about 12% of your property tax bill. Here’s where the rest goes, why bills rise even with a 1% cap, and what the 2027-2028 city budget means for you.
ANALYSIS · PROCESS
Kirkland’s Council Is Weighing a Position on Two School Initiatives
Council is set to take positions on the two school measures October 20, six days after ballots mail. What Kirkland’s own record of twelve ballot-position resolutions says, and what a fair process looks like.
REPORT · HOUSING
What the Rose Hill Village Sale Means for the Station Area
Taylor Morrison’s 89 townhomes will be the station area’s first big redevelopment, and the last project of their kind the council will allow there.
REPORT · SCHOOLS
The School District Has Started a Review That Could Close Schools in 2028
The district has opened a review of enrollment, school capacity and attendance boundaries, with closing or combining schools among the options.
Understand the issues
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Housing & Zoning
What state mandates require, what Kirkland’s elected officials control, and how density decisions get made.
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Taxes & MFTE
Where property-tax dollars go, how the Multi-Family Tax Exemption works, and who ultimately pays.
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Transit & Traffic
Metro service changes, the 2044 growth targets, and whether infrastructure is keeping pace.
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Schools & Services
How different housing types shape school enrollment, and what that means for neighborhood services.
Each of these four explainers covers who decides, how the decision actually works, and where things stand right now. We check them against the city record every week, and every page shows when it was last updated.
“Our job is to increase understanding, not agreement.”
PRIMARY SOURCES FIRST
Every article links the agendas, packets, votes, and records it draws on, so you can verify our work, not take our word for it.
FACT, ANALYSIS, OPINION, LABELED
We separate what happened from what we think it means, and we tell you which is which, every time.
CORRECTIONS, OPENLY
Accuracy beats speed. When we get something wrong, we fix it and note what changed.
Take part
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Read a council packet
When the packet posts, what’s inside, and what to look for before Tuesday’s meeting.
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Comment in writing
Who to write to, when it counts, and how to find open comment periods near you.
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Speak at a meeting
How public comment works, when to sign up, and what to expect. A two-minute guide.
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Request public records
How to ask the city for emails, contracts and permit files, with sample wording and what to expect.
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Join the conversation
Our Facebook group is where neighbors share updates between articles.