Wholesale changes to the state’s longstanding annexation laws may be coming from the General Assembly this year, a high-ranking state official says.Such changes could hinder or prohibit cities like Wilmington from moving forward with controversial plans to expand their boundaries into unincorporated areas.
Exactly what shape any new legislation – which would replace laws enacted a half-century ago – would take remains unclear.
But incoming state Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said in an interview with the StarNews that the state’s annexation laws are “in dire need of substantial change.” And in a General Assembly now controlled by Republicans, the issue is more likely to get full consideration when the Legislature returns to Raleigh later this month.“The question, in my view, is not if, it’s when,” said Berger, who is expected to take the reins of the Senate when the legislative session begins Jan. 26. “I think you are going to see changes. …I don’t know what it’s going to look like, but I know it’s going to look different.”
Policy outdated?
Berger said the circumstances that existed when the legislature drafted annexation laws decades ago were far different than they are now. Today, he said, the biggest change annexed residents see is the “doubling of their taxes,” rather than an array of new services and perks. And, he said, annexed residents have little say in the process. Involuntary annexation is “contrary to what I believe is an appropriate thing for government to do,” Berger said.He said a significant number of state senators feel the same way. That includes the two Republicans recently elected to represent parts of Southeastern North Carolina. In interviews last week, Sens. Thom Goolsby, R-New Hanover, and Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick, said putting an end to involuntary annexations would be among their top priorities during their first terms.
“I look forward to sponsoring, working on those bills to stop it,” said Goolsby, a Wilmington attorney who represents New Hanover County in the 50-member Senate. “That’s a very big one for a lot of local people.”
He referred to the estimated 27,000 residents of unincorporated parts of New Hanover County targeted by the Wilmington City Council for future annexations, as well as some recently annexed residents.
Wilmington leaders recently endorsed a plan that calls for the annexation of small areas of the county every other year for the next two decades. They say it’s the fairest way to grow the city’s property tax base and keep the tax rate down for city residents, while ensuring that people who use city services, such as roads and parks, pay their share to maintain them.“I think it’s been a good public policy,” said Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo, who guided the city through the recent annexation of the Monkey Junction area.
Cities fight back
The city’s wish list for state legislators this year includes the protection of cities’ annexation powers.
“Annexation has proven to be an essential tool to promote the growth of cities and their surrounding regions, as well as the state’s economy,” according to Wilmington’s state legislative agenda.
Lawless Bean, assistant to city manager Sterling Cheatham for legislative affairs, said the city is aware that the new General Assembly isn’t as keen on annexation as the old one, and it’s no surprise that the topic will be debated this session.“Hopefully we can find something that’s going to work for everybody,” Bean said.
The N.C. League of Municipalities, the main lobbying force for N.C. cities, acknowledges problems with existing annexation statutes. It has proposed a 20-point plan to update the laws, while retaining cities’ powers to extend their boundaries. The plan, if enacted, would provide more safeguards to residents in proposed annexation areas, including requiring cities to provide more upfront information to affected residents and ensuring cities have the financial ability to pay for services to the new area.Paul Meyer, chief legislative counsel at the League of Municipalities, said legislation would be introduced this session on the league’s behalf that includes its 20-point plan, which was rolled out during the last legislative session.
“Whether people know it or not, those 20 proposals would have significantly overhauled the laws of city-initiated annexations,” resulting in fewer and smaller annexations across the state, Meyer said.
Saffo said annexation has kept North Carolina cities, like Wilmington, healthy, while those in other states have withered from the inability to grow. The mayor also said he anticipated that cities across North Carolina would put up a strong fight against any proposal to greatly limit or eliminate cities’ annexation powers. “I can’t imagine the city not putting up some type of defense to that,” Saffo said.
And if the General Assembly does away with annexation, it must find some other way to help the cities, Saffo added.
But Goolsby said he believes the controversial practice of involuntary annexation should be banned in North Carolina. Annexation, he said, should be reserved only for those who seek it.
“We have to help these folks because I really view it as taxation without representation, and it’s just fundamentally not right,” Goolsby said. Rep. Susi Hamilton, D-New Hanover, who begins her first term in the House this month, acknowledges that changes should be made to the old laws, but she wouldn’t support an all-out ban.“I am not inclined to eliminate a city’s purpose and right to annex,” she said. “It’s what’s kept our city strong.”
Other members of the House from the Wilmington area – including Rep. Danny McComas, R-New Hanover – oppose involuntary annexations.Chrissy Pearson, a spokeswoman for Gov. Bev Perdue, said in an e-mail that Perdue believes affected residents should have a clear opportunity to express concerns about a pending annexation. But annexation reform, she said, is not one of Perdue’s legislative priorities as she focuses on job creation and education.
As for any talk about vetoes, “It’s much too early,” Pearson said.
By Patrick Gannon
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Published: Saturday, January 15, 2011 at 3:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, January 14, 2011 at 8:36 p.m.
