The call again this year to revise Georgia’s annexation laws is being proposed by Rep. Doug Holt (R-Social Circle, House District 112) through House Bill 2, entitled the Fair Annexation Act. Holt said the “annexation for revenue” approach being used for decades by cities does not adequately serve Georgia’s citizens, especially small landowners, and tends to create two classes of property rights.

Holt’s efforts in 2006 to address annexation through House Bills 962 and 1101 did not make it out of subcommittee, largely due to the efforts of the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA), he said. This year, with HB 2, things might be different, said Holt.

Holt maintains that HB 2 would give counties, and in some cases school boards, the ability to have a say in annexation proposals and to request binding arbitration if a mutually equitable decision cannot be reached.

Holt said current law does not provide for appropriate community building, lending itself instead to problems such as increased urban sprawl, promoting a disruption to long-term county planning and transferring an unfair tax burden when counties, and in some cases school boards, lose land and tax revenue through annexation of commercial corridors.

And as significant as any single variable, the decades-old “annexation at will” approach has created two classes of property rights, he said.

“Many Georgians want to live in quiet suburbs or rural areas, and they decide where to live based on county plans to shape certain neighborhoods that way. However, a few large landowners can completely change a neighborhood’s character by agreeing to be annexed.

“Small landowners have no say in the process,” Holt said. “If we truly believe that everyone’s property rights matter, then large and small landowners’ rights should be equal. Instead, we see large landowners getting lucrative special treatment, including promises of higher value zoning and water and sewer service. Small landowners’ rights are being ignored and trampled. Bringing in commercial corridors by using a hop, skip and jump approach, the annexation by revenue model, is inappropriate. But with annexation based on community building, business and communities will spring up.”

Fayetteville Mayor and GMA board member Kenneth Steele acknowledged the disparity in annexation viewpoints that sometimes exists between GMA and the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG), landing firmly on the side of GMA in the current legislative attempt. Both now and in past years the two organizations have been at odds over the complicated issues surrounding annexation.

“We spend time trying to make sure we do it right and address the legitimate concerns of ACCG,” Steele said. “The (HB 2 and ACCG) position is based on anecdotal stories of instances where there might have been a disconnect between a city and a county. But (the current legislation) we’ve got is working well 98 percent of the time. We’ve got 159 counties and over 500 cities. You don’t change state law because a few individuals can’t work things out.”

In terms of the future of annexation in Georgia, Holt said he will stand his ground with proposed legislation that levels the playing field for everyone.

“The most important thing this bill strives for is fairness,” Holt said. “It makes sure that no county or city is left without a binding form of appeal if it disagrees with any action. And the arbitration processes is spelled out in detail, so that it can’t be manipulated for either party’s advantage.”

A hearing on HB 2 will be held Feb. 9 at 2 p.m. in Room 515 at the Legislative Office Building across from the state capitol.

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