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136 <br />21 <br />RA aGn�n1 C 276 3 STRGLT <br />te ��TG�i, ATC a76o3 /±,��,� <br />NCRA�jUE <br />F MUNICIPAL IniES Posy Omce Box 3069 I 276o2-3oN <br />Good government. Great hometowns.. 919 -715 -4000 1 s+x:919- 733 -9519 <br />W W W.NCLM.ORG <br />To: Managers /Administrators /Clerks /Attorneys /Planners <br />From: Kimberly S. Hibbard, General Counsel <br />Date: August 4, 2011 <br />Re: Substantial Changes to the Annexation Laws <br />The 2011 General Assembly made sweeping changes to the statutes governing the <br />municipal annexation process. The changes are contained in a series of acts, each of <br />which is discussed in its appropriate subject matter categories below: <br />HB 845 - Annexation Reform Act of 2011 (SL 2011 -396) <br />HB 56 - Local Annexations Subject to 60% Petition (SL 2011 -177) <br />SB 27 - Local Annexations Subject to 60% Petition (SL 2011 -173) <br />HB 168 - Farms Exempt from City Annexation & ETJ (SL 2011 -363) <br />HB 171 - Municipal Self - Annexations (SL 2011 -57) <br />Collectively, the legislation implements a property owner "veto petition" process that <br />can terminate a city - initiated annexation; subjects certain previously completed <br />annexations to the veto process; requires "no cost" extension of water and sewer lines <br />all the way to the home /structure in city - initiated and some types of voluntary <br />annexations; allows, and in some cases compels, the annexation of distressed areas with <br />less than a 100% petition; and exempts "bona fide farms" from being annexed without <br />consent. <br />Be aware that the legislation is unclear in some respects and will require significant <br />legal analysis and interpretation. It also raises a number of questions that will perhaps <br />only be answered by the courts. For example, the requirement to use public funds to <br />make infrastructure improvements to private property may raise constitutional <br />concerns. <br />CHANGES TO THE CITY - INITIATED ANNEXATION PROCESS <br />HB 845 - Annexation Reform Act of 2011 (SL 2011 -396) makes several fundamental <br />changes to city - initiated annexation statutes, as well as numerous procedural changes <br />summarized below. <br />