Annexation Back In The Legislative Spotlight

Annexation is, once again, moving to the spotlight in Tennessee, as the moratorium on annexation is nearing expiration and a new report, requested by the Tennessee General Assembly, is released. Following a string of bills introduced in 2013 that would limit the powers of annexation in municipalities and largely shift the ability to annex to the people, though the particulars vary from bill to bill, the Legislature put a hold on the issue. Currently, there is a moratorium that went in to effect on April 15, 2013 and will be lifted on May 15, 2014, moving the issue to the forefront for those legislators that oppose annexation by ordinance rather than referendum. The House and Senate instructed the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, a committee of learned individuals that provide special research to the legislature, to compile a report on the issue of annexation. The requested report was submitted on January 14, 2014, after six months of study. TACIR weighed issues associated with the annexation process in their 204 page report and suggested that further consideration be given to allowing a more participatory process, one that gives people more control on when and if they are annexed. They offered three options that would achieve that objective with the first being annexation by referendum inside and outside the growth boundaries by consent only-the second being approval of the growth boundary itself by popular vote, after which unilateral annexation could occur-the third being providing for petitions for removal from annexation or growth boundaries provided that it does not create non-contiguity or unincorporated islands and that cities are compensated for infrastructure investment that is not rate-paid services. They noted that this could be a statewide policy or a county by county choice of which option to initiate.

The report also addressed annexation of noncontiguous property and public notice of annexation. TACIR concluded that the issues regarding annexation require further investigation and recommended that the moratorium continue for another year or until such time that questions regarding annexation methods, informational meetings and public hearings, notice requirements, agricultural property and growth plan amendments are addressed. Should the State Legislature accept the recommendation of the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, the May 15, 2014 moratorium will be extended, stalling annexation statewide for at least another year.