Apr 09 2008
NC House Holds Hearing on Annexation
Dozens of people spoke at a hearing in Raleigh about the pros and cons of North Carolina’s municipal annexation law.
More than 300 people packed at public hearing Wednesday night before a state House committee that will recommend any changes to the law.
A strong majority in the meeting room at the Legislative Building opposed the current law, particularly a provision that allows towns and cities to swallow up unincorporated areas without a referendum of the landowners being annexed.
But municipal elected leaders and planning directors who spoke said the law works well as written and helps North Carolina manage growth effectively.
These municipal leaders supporting this practice are nothing more than wolves in sheeps’ clothing. They could care less about managed growth. Forced annexation is all about a tax grab by the city officials. They want to reach into your wallet and snatch some of your money. People live in these areas precisely to avoid the higher costs of city bureaucracy.
Private property is one of the fundamental principles of a free society. When a city government can come along and forcibly redraw their borders to encompass your property they are infringing on your property rights. This needs to be made illegal and it is a travesty that it has gone on this long.
