|
HELP!_
My Property Is Being Involuntarily
Annexed!
This is a multiple part series.
Click on the links to the left to
read and find MUCH MORE HELP
YOUR property is
being
Involuntarily
Annexed?
StopNCAnnexation was created to help
YOU!
Below is where we will explain what you are up against.
Then we explain
how to organize to fight for your rights in spite of the current North Carolina
Annexation laws that are stacked against you!
Let's Start With Some Frequently
Asked Questions:
Yes, they can. North Carolina
State Statues allows it.
North Carolina is one of few States
that allows this type of unilateral, forced annexation.
To read a list
of reasons why StopNCAnnexation
opposes these undemocratic laws: Click Here
To read the State Statutes that allow this, click Here: NC Annexation Statutes
(scroll
down to Chapter 160-A 46)
-
Can I vote
against this?
No,
you can not. Even more unfortunate is the fact that
elected officials whom you never voted for, or against,
are making this decision about your property
-
I have
heard that this is called "City, or Town, Initiated Annexation What does
this mean?
It means that the Municipality has
made the decision to annex your property. The
action is "City or Town Initiated" because
you did not ask to be annexed.
Your property is being annexed against your will, or
involuntarily.
Cities and Towns have recently been told to use the words "Town
Initiated" to make forced annexation sound
friendlier No matter what it's called, you, as the
property owner, have no power to veto a
forced annexation.
You are being forced to submit to another layer of government
and pay Municipal assessments and property taxes for
services you already have and do not need.
-
I understand that
if my property is annexed, my property will become part of the
municipality . How much City/Town property taxes will I have to
pay?
You will pay the same City (Town) tax
rate that anyone who currently lives in the Municipality pays.
It is allowed by the North Carolina Laws on Annexation by Cities & Towns.
But no matter what the city politicians say, it is NOT required.
-
I could not, and
did not, vote for the elected officials, the Town Councilors/Commissioners,
who are
making this decision, nor for or against past elected officials of the municipality
who have set the direction
of the community.
How is it possible now, for them to be able to
decide, against my
will, to add City/Town taxes to my property when I have had no voice,
now or in the past, on how the municipality has or is being run?
Isn't this taxation without representation?
Involuntary annexation is
a power given to municipalities by North Carolina Law.
As to the question
of taxation without representation,
StopNCAnnexation believes
that it is exactly that.
Your
County Representative or State Representative cannot, by themselves, stop
the involuntary annexation process.
Changing State Laws on Annexation is the only remedy. Your House and
Senate Representative can file a Bill to reform State Law on Annexation.
The Bill would then have to approved by the entire General Assembly.
This is where YOUR letters to Legislators could help to get the Annexation
Statutes changed.
Your County Commissioner is your closest
"local representative, who you and your neighbors voted into office _with
the understanding that you could work to vote them out of office if they
did something against your will, but the State Statutes on
Involuntary Annexation
gives your local County Commissioner no power to stop an
involuntary annexation.
If you are annexed, in the next
election, you will be able to vote out
of office the City Councilors who are doing this to you now. Let them know right
now that this is your intent if they vote to annex your property!
Understand that the citizens (who live in the municipality) who vote for these municipal elected
officials did not have
involuntary annexation or your property interests in mind.
You need to make the current municipal taxpayers aware of what their elected
officials are doing and inform them that this
involuntary annexation
will cost current city residents
more taxes!
No, not on their own. They are, however, a part of the
North Carolina General
Assembly that can change the law. But, they alone,
cannot stop the municipality from doing this.
StopNCAnnexation,
is gathering citizens from around the State, who have been victims
just like yourself, to join together in working to try to make every State
Legislator aware that
these undemocratic laws needs to be changed.
Click here to see a list of State Legislators for and against
changing these laws.
There have been some small victories, but
the powerful *Taxpayer
Funded*
lobbying group, the
North Carolina League Of
Municipalities is always fighting to keep your property rights in
the hands of municipalities without allowing you, the property owner, a
voice and vote in the process. To read more about how the League of
Municipalities is fighting
against your property rights, Click Here
Later on we will show you how some properties, after
being annexed, have been de-annexed through the Legislature by passage
of special Bills. But for now, since you have not been annexed
yet, lets continue to review the annexation process first.
******************************************************
*Taxpayer
Funded lobbyists are exactly what the
North Carolina League of Municipalities is. They receive
membership "dues directly from most communities, and indirectly from
most counties in the State. These dues are paid from Tax Revenue,
which, of course, is the only source of revenue that the government has.
Taxes YOU pay are helping to
pay these dues through sales tax and other taxes paid on items you buy
in the Municipality. (Sales tax goes back to the municipality as general
revenue) The definition of a
"Taxpayer Funded"
lobbying
group is one which your tax dollars helped to support!
******************************************
No, _But because they do represent you, you
should ask them to write a letter opposing what your local and
state government is doing to you and other property owners.
Yes, you can. But before you do,
realize that the
Involuntary Annexation laws
have been in place in North Carolina since 1959.
Legal challenges can delay the annexation. Most legal challenges that are brought
to court are based on whether the
involuntary annexation process was
properly followed by the Municipality. A small percentage of these cases have been won, but most cases eventually lose and the residents
fighting the
involuntary annexation
end up being annexed by the City or Town anyway.
Changing North Carolina State Annexation
Law is the only real way to win over this injustice.
It will take the grass roots effort of people like you from across the
state to convince the legislators that it is time to change these laws.
That is what this statewide effort is all about. You can join your voice
to many others in North Carolina through the StopNCAnnexation effort!
Many property owners have done that and it is an option you
could consider.
Getting sound legal advice from firms that have experience in challenging
North Carolina
forced
annexation
law should be your preferred choice of legal representation, but you
should also be aware that the court appeal will delay, but may not
defeat, forced annexation.
The
municipal politicians and bureaucrats are claiming that you use services
that the Municipality provides. This may be the parks or other publicly
funded places or even the roads within the municipality. Yet most
municipalities charge user fees for non residents to access these
services.
Some Cities and Towns have even claimed that if you, as a nonresident,
shop at a privately owned grocery store within the City limits, that this
constitutes using municipal services! The rationale that
Municipalities try to put forward by this statement is that everyone that
enters any city for any reason should be paying municipal taxes.
As you shake your head in
wonder at this illogic, ask yourself a few questions. Doesn't a
grocery store WANT more business? Are the parks so full of people
that the city
can not accommodate anyone from outside of the community?
If so, should visitors from other cities have to pay
as well?
Which city should you pay city taxes to if you drive to and shop in more
than one city? All of them? Or none of them because the cities are all
getting their money's worth from user fees you pay and your $$ support
of city business'?
They are saying that your area has or is taking on the look, feel, or
"character of a urban area, areas usually associated within
municipalities, instead of a traditional rural, less populated area.
As housing developments spring up, Cities and Towns claim that this
changes rural areas to urban areas. Regardless of what your area is
called, you of course, (unless you are a developer), have had nothing to
do with the changes that have occurred around you. Your neighbors may have
sold large tracts of land and developers may have built high density
housing around you, but the fact still remains that you had nothing to do
with the property owners' decisions to change the look, feel, and
character of your area
Also remember that the government is the zoning regulator, and they,
by regulating the "character of new development around you, are the
ones who have changed the “character” of the area. When the government
near you changes the zoning and regulation, should you be forced to pay
for those decisions that you had no say in?
Involuntary annexation
simply
means that the city wants you to pay taxes to help pay for the changes that they,
the government, have made to the area all around you.
One of the big reasons stated by
municipalities for involuntary annexation is because of the potential
for "failing private water and sewer systems This ploy is to put
a fear into you, the property owner, that maybe these systems will fail
on your property and you will need these municipal sewer and water
services or even worse, you systems will damage the surrounding
environment.
How many of your neighbors wells and septic systems, that you
know of, have failed recently beyond repair? The true answer
is very, very few. Trouble can and does happen with
private systems but they are usually repairable, at the expense of the property owner.
Most experts agree that a properly
installed and well
maintained septic system can and will last indefinitely.
Private water systems have
to do with the ecology of both your and the surrounding properties. Failing water systems are most often are caused by changes in
the surrounding environment. High density developments and
large shopping centers change the way the water runs into the ground.
(Big parking lots, new streets, driveways with curbs and gutters, and
roofs that direct the water to collection systems instead of letting it
sink into the ground that it falls on) Some of these changes can and do
effect private well water systems.
If you have a properly installed well
water system, and it fails, local government may have caused the failure
by high pressure, high density rezoning and development of the
surrounding area. By intensely developing the area, increasing
paved surfaces, they change the hydrology of that area.
There are many rules and regulations
about water and sewer and each are unique to individual areas. It may be
an underlying goal of local government to have you
connected to municipal sewer and water. This allows for high density
building, putting more homes and business' crammed closer together, to
gain more tax dollars and utility revenue!
Perhaps you are beginning to understand why
big developers also like annexation? They can build more on a
piece of property and of course get more money for it. The same holds
true for the government. More homes and businesses means ,in the
short term, more tax dollars. You will need to thoroughly research the
matter in your specific area.
If you are on a community sewer
system, not connected to any municipality now, it is the responsibility
of the operators of that system to make sure it does not fail.
Remember, your government probably issued permits and approved it's
installation and design. If this system fails, why should you have
to pay for both the government and the system installers mistakes or
negligence? If the system fails due to a natural disaster, say a
hurricane or flood, why shouldn't this system be entitled to emergency
assistance, just as a municipal system would be, if it failed due to
natural disasters.
The
statutes also state that if the municipality provides such services,
that they must have them available to you within 2 years from the date
of annexation. Even if you are not required to "hook up they can charge
you a monthly "privilege fee" for having the water and sewer lines
available to your property. They will often tell you, the property
owner, that if you hook up when they are installing the line it will be
much cheaper than if you wait until later. Unfortunately, much cheaper
will still mean thousands of dollars to hook up. (Hook up now and it
will only cost you $6,000.00 but later it will cost you $20,000.00) You
will need to find out the specifics for your area to know just how much.
Maybe and maybe not. Read the details about water and sewer
hook up for more information. Involuntary annexation is about redeveloping
your property with city services you do not need and do not want, so the
city can collect additional taxes and utility fees from you.
Along with sewer and water fees, there can be garbage fees,
vehicle fees and other special fees that the Municipality assesses to all of
it’s residents
The simple answer is that you are
supposed to receive the same services with the same standards* as those
who currently live in the municipality. Street lighting, for
example must be provided to meet the standards set for the municipality. If curb
& gutter and sidewalks are required by the municipality for
new building areas, it will be required in the newly annexed areas as
well.
It is an area that a municipality took over
the planning and zoning jurisdiction of. They got this authority
from the County through your County's permission. The municipality,
after receiving this authority, provides planning, zoning, and
property regulations for this area. If you live in an ETJ area,
you know that you did not pay property taxes for the municipality to perform these services (except for fees
for building permits and
inspections, etc.)
Understand that if the municipality had
not taken over such jurisdiction, the County would have continued to do
what the municipality started doing when it took over. While the County may
not have made the same decisions, the fact remains that the service was
the same. The municipality could have just wanted this jurisdiction so
it could increase the density of the area by supplying
municipal water and sewer. Increasing the residential density results in more tax revenue
and utility fees for the municipality.
This often happens because the people in the ETJ area have not had to pay additional
taxes and have not made any significant improvements to their property requiring
inspection or rezoning. The property owners in the area at the time the
ETJ district was granted should have been notified of the request for
jurisdiction.
To find out when your property was included in the ETJ, check with City/Town Clerk for official minutes of when your area was made a part of the
ETJ. Also check with the Clerk of the County Board of
Commissioners to find out when your County Commissioner Board voted to
allow the Municipality to include your area in their ETJ.
You are
supposed to receive the same services that are currently provided for
the City/Town. There are special provisions for dealing with the
current fire protection you have if different from the Municipality.
If you
have had the County Sheriffs for your police protection, the municipalities police department will respond
instead of the sheriffs department. You need to ask if the
municipality plans on building a branch police department office in this
annexed area. This is an important question because since you are
being involuntarily annexed, and you are going to pay equal taxes in the
municipality, you should not have to suffer with longer emergency response
times than any other part of the municipality. If they tell you
that they are going to add officers and squad cars to patrol your area,
ask how much this is going to cost the current tax payers.
Check with the Municipality and County to find out how Fire and
Emergency Ambulance Service is effected.
You will receive and pay for the same
services that the residents of the municipality receive and pay for.
There are special laws and provisions that relate to both state and local
statutes and ordinances. You will need to ask the municipality about the
specific statutes and local ordinances and how they would regulate this.
Some involuntary annexation victims were promised that they could keep
their farm animal only to have later restrictions enacted because new
neighbors complain to the city about noises and smells from the animals.
NEXT: Go to
MORE HELP-#2
|
StopNCAnnexation