State Reps Ignore the Concerns of Southport Residents

Consider this situation: you want to move to Southport and build a house. You and your contractor obtain all the necessary permits, follow the local building ordinances, receive passing grades on each mandatory inspection and are ready to receive your final occupancy permit. Suddenly, the building inspector tells you there are several new building ordinances and codes that were not in place when you started building your house. In fact, they were passed after you finished construction. But the city refuses to issue the occupancy permit and insists that you 1) must make all changes so that your construction follows the rules you never knew about, 2) you have to pay more money in permit fees, and 3) you can't move in until you get the written approval of all your neighbors.

That's exactly what happened with the city-initiated annexation ordinance passed on June 10, 2011. This is called ex post facto (changing the rules after the game is over) and is specifically prohibited by the US Constitution. However, the North Carolina Constitution allows the general assembly to do...well, pretty much whatever they damn well please--especially when it comes to the municipalities throughout the state.

photo by John Muus, photographic artist

Eight municipalities with annexation ordinances in place have been forced (retroactively) to submit to a petition process whereby 60% of the property owners in the annexation areas (not registered voters, as in most elections, but property owners who may not even be residents of NC) can block the annexation. Every city involved has spent significant taxpayer dollars under the existing law.  Now the general assembly is asking for more money (the city must pay for the petition expenses) and the approval of our neighbors.

Why don't the citizens of the affected municipalities get to vote? Because your elected state representative and senator said so. Furthermore, it was your representative and senator who insisted that Southport be forced into this after-the-fact penalty. Other cities with annexations in the same time frame as Southport's are not subject to the rule changes. The legislature achieved its goal to reform annexation in North Carolina, but they obviously wanted to punish those cities who followed the rules and spent taxpayer money in good faith. No criteria were given to explain why some cities were included and others ignored. This sets a precedent whereby the legislature can undo laws and apply new ones to citizens and public entities who didn't even know it was the law at the time of their actions. Furthermore, it discriminates against certain parties and leaves others unaffected while offering no criteria whatsoever as to how the individual parties were selected to be included in the new law.

This was done for the oldest of reasons: to get re-elected. Our reps chose to placate a noisy band of reprobates who refuse to pay their fair share of local taxes rather than stick up for the taxpayers of Southport. Despite the screaming and nasty behavior on the part of those opposed, the annexations are critically important to the future of Southport and all of our taxpayers should be angry with the actions of the state legislature.

The city-initiated annexation process was an important tool for the growth of cities in North Carolina. You will not find an economic development or local government who disagrees with that statement. The goal is to create city borders such that those who benefit from the city are included. In this way the municipal government--that which is closest to the needs and concerns of the people--can be large enough to take care of all the people in their area. Establishing a more stable tax base enables the city to improve existing services and develop projects that benefit everybody--including those who are being annexed. Unfortunately, many in the annexation areas do not see this as a benefit and prefer to keep not paying the taxes they should be sharing with city residents.

As costs for maintaining city services continue to rise, the entire burden will fall upon the current residents and result in higher taxes sometime down the road. Southport has been able to reign in spending over the years, but it has been done at the cost of maintaining our equipment, buildings, parks, and infrastructure. Our budget has no fat in it and all departments have had to sacrifice in order to avoid tax increases.

Please take a wide angle view of the annexation maps and compare them to our current city limits. (I'll prepare a document for this space within a few days in case you can't access the maps on the city website). Any reasonable person would agree that the areas proposed for annexation are surrounded by those within the current city limits and, for all intents and purposes, belong in Southport. Now we're paying their freight.

If there is any city resident who does not understand why these annexations are important to every citizen in Southport, please let me know and I'll provide answers to your questions. The bottom line is that, if Southport cannot grow it will cost more and more taxpayer dollars just to retain our existing services. Annexation is a win-win for all residents in our area. We have folks in Southport on fixed incomes who can use the help that a fair tax base can provide. It is the best way to keep taxes in check and work to improve out little piece of heaven.