There was no standing room left Feb. 9 as those on both sides of proposed changes in the state annexation law lined up to have their say at a hearing of the House Governmental Affairs subcommittee. The small hearing room in the Legislative Office Building could barely hold the nearly 90 people who came to weigh in on the proposed Fair Annexation Act (House Bill 2) authored by Rep. Doug Holt (R-Social Circle, House District 112).

Chaired by Rep. Jon Burns, the hearing ran for two hours but could not accommodate the number of people waiting to speak.

Holt began with a brief explanation of HB 2, followed by representatives of Georgia Municipal Association (GMA), Association of County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) and a host of elected and appointed officials and residents from across the state.

Holt explained 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.

On the books for more than four decades, current law provides no viable option to the frequently used 100 percent annexation, he said, and provides little in the way of community building.

“Annexation at will” under the 100 percent method amounts to “annexation by revenue,” Holt told subcommittee members. Frequently used, the 100 percent method is one where a single, often large-tract, land owner contiguous to a city can have that tract of land annexed into a city regardless of the wishes of other area property owners, Holt said.

Those annexation requests are often made by developers and speculators with an eye for potential commercial corridor development that leaves surrounding small property owners in the lurch, Holt said. Developers benefit through promises of higher density development and access to water and sewer services, he said.

“I’m bringing this bill on behalf of small landowners,” Holt said. “Many cities annex (under the 100 percent method) to pull in existing or potential commercial corridors. The people I’m trying to defend have no recourse against this.”

GMA Deputy General Counsel Ted Baggett could not have agreed less with Holt’s assessment.

“Annexation is something citizens and property owners want from a city,” Baggett said. “Small property owners have as much right as large property owners to petition for annexation. I don’t know what ‘annexation for revenue’ means.”

Baggett took issue with various portions of the bill, including that portion calling for binding arbitration to breach an impasse between a city and county.

He said more than two-thirds of annexations statewide during the past five years were accomplished by the 100 percent method.

Cases of dispute resolution are provided for under current law and are successful in the majority of cases, Baggett said. He equated Holt’s proposed binding arbitration with veto power by the counties.

Supporting HB 2 was ACCG Associate Legislative Director for Economic Development and Transportation Matthew Hicks, who voiced his organization’s concerns over what he categorized as annexation abuse in Georgia. Current law is ineffective, he said, providing no teeth in the process of settling annexation disputes between cities and counties and providing cities the final say in annexation matters.

GMA and ACCG were followed by a number of others weighing in on the respective sides of the years-long annexation dispute. Many of those who signed up to speak were unable to do so because the two-hour time limit expired.

The only speaker from the southwest metro area was Fulton County Commissioner Bill Edwards. He said large property owners were actively pursued to request annexation into the cities of south Fulton, where more than 21,000 acres were annexed during 2006. He categorized some of those actions as being fraudulent and deceitful.

Holt maintained after the meeting that the disparity between large and small property owners is a real concern and does not serve the best interest of Georgians.

“The testimony by all the various parties shows that this is clearly not a party or a racial issue. This is an issue of right and wrong over property rights,” said Holt. “And while I think there was some attempt to doctor over what I had to say about single owner property rights, I think that most people could see through it.”

Chairman Burns said the Governmental Affairs subcommittee would hold additional hearings on HB 2.

Information on the Fair Annexation Act can be obtained at www.dougholt.org.

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