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 26, 2026
This week in Kirkland
Tue, Oct 27 · Human Services Commission meeting. 6:30 p.m., Rose Hill Room, City Hall.
Wed, Oct 28 · Transportation Commission meeting. City Hall.
Wed, Oct 28 · Park Board meeting.
Tue, Nov 3 · General election. Drop boxes close at 8 p.m. You can still register in person until 8 p.m.
Wed, Nov 4 · City Council meeting. It moves to Wednesday because of the election. Study session 5:30 p.m., regular meeting 7:30 p.m., City Hall and Zoom.
Latest meeting recaps
Latest articles
EXPLAINER · BUDGET
What Kirkland’s 2027-28 Budget Means for Your Household
What the City’s two-year plan means for your utility bill, property tax, sales tax and parking, and why it leans on savings that won’t be there next time.
ANALYSIS · SCHOOLS
Kirkland Keeps Building. The School District Is Still Planning for Fewer Students.
Kirkland is building faster than its growth target while the school district plans for about 4,450 fewer students and weighs closures, and the district’s own forecast shows why.
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.
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.
Understand the issues
-
Housing & Zoning
What state mandates require, what Kirkland’s elected officials control, and how density decisions get made.
-
Taxes & MFTE
Where property-tax dollars go, how the Multi-Family Tax Exemption works, and who ultimately pays.
-
Transit & Traffic
Metro service changes, the 2044 growth targets, and whether infrastructure is keeping pace.
-
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
-
Read a council packet
When the packet posts, what’s inside, and what to look for before Tuesday’s meeting.
-
Comment in writing
Who to write to, when it counts, and how to find open comment periods near you.
-
Speak at a meeting
How public comment works, when to sign up, and what to expect. A two-minute guide.
-
Request public records
How to ask the city for emails, contracts and permit files, with sample wording and what to expect.
-
Join the conversation
Our Facebook group is where neighbors share updates between articles.