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Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Indiana Law - Editorial proposes changes to annexation law
An editorial today in the Indianapolis Star is headlined "Reform could prevent annexation squabbles." Some quotes:
The answer isn't piecemeal tinkering with laws, Michael Shaver recently told Star reporter Bill Ruthhart. Shaver, an annexation expert who has advised several Indiana communities on land-use issues, argues that comprehensive legislative reform is needed.See also these earlier related ILB entries from: 11/15/04, and 11/18/04.The current process of annexation opponents having to obtain 65 percent of property owners' signatures, often entailing court battles, is cumbersome and costly. While a referendum provides for more orderly discussion, lowering the remonstrance threshold to 51 percent, as some propose, would effectively bar all annexation.
Part of the solution lies in encouraging and empowering counties or regional agencies to engage in better long-range planning of land use, creating master plans that provide for orderly growth and expansion of services. Changing tax structures so cities and towns can recoup the cost of providing services to surrounding areas also might lower resistance to formal annexation.
Reforming annexation rules won't be easy. But sound, sweeping reform is much better than the piecemeal legislative tinkering that has led to chaos.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 23, 2004 07:54 AM
Posted to Indiana Law