Got my annexation letter today

[jmra]

Six years ago we bought the home of our dreams. It met all of our requirements. Very nice neighborhood, reasonable HOA, and outside city limits. Looks like the latter will be changing. In 3 years our area will be annexed by the city of Midlothian. This means my property taxes will increase by approximately $200 a month.
I'm still trying to figure out what benefits I will receive for my $2400 annual city taxes. Yes, the city police department will patrol our streets, but ironically the neighborhoods adjacent to us already within city limits have more crime issues than we do. Yes, we will have access to the city fire department, but response time has never been an issue before. Services that I believe we will never see are city sewer, natural gas, cable internet,..
So, if there are others here who have gone through this process, is there a silver lining here I'm missing? Was your life made any better through annexation that would justify an extra $200 a month? Or is it time to start looking for even a more rural abode? My wife and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary on the 10th and this is the longest we have lived in a home since we were married. My wife has lovingly stated previously that if I wish to move again I will be moving alone. However, this news has her rethinking that stance.
Any input from someone who has gone through this process would be greatly appreciated.

[C-dub]

Tough choice. I guess you gotta look a few things. Now that the news is out, though, your property value may have already been affected. I don't know if it would be for the better or worse. Depends on how much you like the house. Or, you could wait another 5 years and see what the changes will bring and if they are intolerable, then move. I don't envy the position you're in.

Have you asked the city how you will benefit and point out the things you've pointed out here?

[jmra]

Have you asked the city how you will benefit and point out the things you've pointed out here?

Not yet, but plan to soon. From what I've read about annexation the city has 5 years from the time of annexation before they have to provide any infrastructure services such as city sewer. I read one story from Red Oak where the city came into a lower middle class income neighborhood at the 5 year mark and told the residents they were ready to install the sewer. The catch? Each resident would have to pay an $8,000 connection fee. They city was able to obtain enough signatures from the neighborhood waiving the service that they didn't have to provide the service at all. The whole thing just seems like a scam and an unspeakable violation.

[C-dub]

I'm almost certain there were meetings and a vote on the issue. Were you able to attend any? What was said?

[jmra]

I'm almost certain there were meetings and a vote on the issue. Were you able to attend any? What was said?

The plan was just announced. It is a 3 year process with meetings scheduled at intervals during the 3 years. All of the voting is done by the council, no voting by the residents of the city. Of course even if there was a public election on the issue we would not get to vote because we are not residents of the city until after the deed is done. Basically we have no say in the matter. I have looked at legal options but I can't find anywhere in recent history that such action has been successful. Texas law favors the city when it comes to annexation.

[Oldgringo]

It boils down to how much do y'all like your house and it's sittings? Good luck!

[Rex B]

It's not hopeless. Our neighbourhood has been fighting annexation by Ft Worth for over 10 years. YOU NEED TO ATTEND THE MEETINGS, along with ALL your neighbours, and be VERY vocal about your displeasure. Your HOA should be leading this very aggressively. The HOA should consider hiring a good lawyer. Remember, once incorporated, you will be able to vote against those council members. Most politicians don't want to add a large block of voters that hate their guts.
We did this and were able to push it back about 10 - 15 years. You may recall the news stories about it. LOTS of angry people basically filled the meeting halls and all but shut down the meetings. The city representatives were taken aback at the backlash.
But it's probably inevitable. We are now scheduled for 2018, at which time we will likely move out of town.

[rotor]

I don't know how big your property is but in city limits where I live you can not shoot any firearms, even a bb gun. We own about 100 acres outside city limits to avoid this problem. I don't know if this would have any bearing on your decision

[Rex B]

That is certainly a factor for me. I haven't fired a gun on my acre in a few years, but I like having the option.

[MotherBear]

I don't know all the details because I was a teenager, but we got annexed... or the first some number of meters back from the road did; the rest of the property was still unincorporated. When we moved away years later we were still on a well and a sewer, but I think they brought a water line along the road if we'd wanted to pay to run a line the rest of the way to the house. I think we got city trash services, which you can imagine was a real selling point. We never actually needed police or fire for anything urgent, so I can't speak to them. We tried to call animal control once when a pig from their animal shelter down the road escaped and wound up on our property. The police came out and looked at it, verified it was a pig, and declined to take it away in the patrol car. They said that since it was a three-day weekend, perhaps we could keep it in our barn and call back the next Tuesday to see if they felt like doing something about it then. They did not offer to pay a boarding fee, provide food or clean up the stall at the end of the weekend, and seemed offended when we suggested it. Oh, and they also took a good chunk out of the front of our property for widening the road. We always wondered if anyone was ever going to try to enforce the city's rooster leash law if the roosters wandered into the front part of our property, but no one ever did. Which was fortunate, because my attempt to teach a rooster to walk on a leash was a pretty miserable failure.

Right now, we live just outside city limits. We're in Austin's ETJ (which means nothing but some minimal construction oversight) and within spitting distance of one of the outlying small towns. We consider ourselves residents of the smaller town (our mailing address agrees). We get free library membership because we're in the school district (usually I think that's decided by city limits, but who's arguing?). We can go to the public parks and participate in festivals and things. If we were actual residents we'd get some discounts on things like pool passes and classes at the rec center if we were so inclined. The city offers things like free Christmas tree recycling (and the resulting mulch) for residents. Occasional bulk collection days and free trips to the dump. Rebates on your water bill if you install water-efficient landscaping. Because we're suburban rather than rural, I sometimes miss having city ordinances. In the country, I don't care if my neighbor has a car he hasn't driven in a year and that isn't even current on inspection or registration. When that car is sitting on the curb in front of my front yard and has been for a year, it bugs me and I wouldn't mind having a code enforcement officer handy. Part of that is probably that we don't live in a high-end neighborhood and our HOA is pretty pathetic. Other than that, though, we haven't missed the city services. We talked about that before moving out here, and thought about the services we had available in Austin -- really not much we ever used. Once we tried to get them to pick up a dead raccoon in our yard, but they wanted us to move it into the street and leave it there for a few days before they'd get around to it so our neighbor hauled it off somewhere in his truck instead.

One thing that might give you some perspective is to see if Midlothian has some sort of e-mail newsletter. I'm subscribed to the newsletter for our neighboring town so I see what's going on in the city -- events, new ordinances, zoning stuff, whatever. We also went and did our citizens' police academy (they let us even though we're not residents) and that helps you get to know the city and its leadership a bit. I also figured as a CHL, not bad to be known as a good guy ahead of time and get a feel for how the officers feel about CHLs. Given the choice between living outside the city limits and in, I'd probably go for out. I'm not sure if I'd move to get away from the city if I really liked where I was, although I might make a hobby of trying to convince them not to annex me. Because of my husband's work (tech, and not stuff he can do from home), we need to be within a commutable distance from a city like Austin so most of our options consist of picking the city we're most willing to pay taxes to. Austin is not that city. The little town next to us is a pretty decent one, and they'd probably be our choice if we wind up in city limits again.

[C-dub]

That is certainly a factor for me. I haven't fired a gun on my acre in a few years, but I like having the option.

I don't think you can legally do that if it is not in self defense. I think you must have at least 10 acres to be able to do that if you live in an unincorporated area in Texas.

[F350-6]

I don't think you can legally do that if it is not in self defense. I think you must have at least 10 acres to be able to do that if you live in an unincorporated area in Texas.

I've heard that rumor many times before but have never seen the part of the law that says that.

[C-dub]

I don't think you can legally do that if it is not in self defense. I think you must have at least 10 acres to be able to do that if you live in an unincorporated area in Texas.

I've heard that rumor many times before but have never seen the part of the law that says that.

Not a rumor.

Code: Select all

Sec. 229.002.  REGULATION OF DISCHARGE OF WEAPON.  A municipality may not apply a regulation relating to the discharge of firearms or other weapons in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the municipality or in an area annexed by the municipality after September 1, 1981, if the firearm or other weapon is:
(1)  a shotgun, air rifle or pistol, BB gun, or bow and arrow discharged:
(A)  on a tract of land of 10 acres or more and more than 150 feet from a residence or occupied building located on another property; and
(B)  in a manner not reasonably expected to cause a projectile to cross the boundary of the tract; or
(2)  a center fire or rim fire rifle or pistol of any caliber discharged:
(A)  on a tract of land of 50 acres or more and more than 300 feet from a residence or occupied building located on another property; and
(B)  in a manner not reasonably expected to cause a projectile to cross the boundary of the tract.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 18 (S.B. 734), Sec. 4, eff. May 3, 2005.

http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/D ... LG.229.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[C-dub]

And then there is also this.

Code: Select all

Sec. 235.022.  AUTHORITY TO REGULATE.  To promote the public safety, the commissioners court of a county by order may prohibit or otherwise regulate the discharge of firearms and air guns on lots that are 10 acres or smaller and are located in the unincorporated area of the county in a subdivision.

http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/D ... LG.235.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;