H845: Annexation Reform Act of 2011 HAS PASSED THE HOUSE AND INCLUDES SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR “EXCLUDED COMMUNITIES” PROPOSED BY REP. BRYANT

H845: Annexation Reform Act of 2011 HAS PASSED THE HOUSE AND INCLUDES SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR “EXCLUDED COMMUNITIES” PROPOSED BY REP. BRYANT  Information provided by UNC Center For Civil Rights and NC Justice Center. Thanks for their outstanding advocacy on this issue.   Why are these changes necessary?   §  Current annexation law exacerbates municipal exclusion, which occurs when unincorporated, low-income communities are kept separate from nearby larger municipalities.   §  More than 30 excluded low-income communities identified in North Carolina.   §  Impacts of municipal exclusion include: o   the denial or unequal provision of public services (water, sewer, police and fire protection, trash pick-up, street lighting, and road maintenance); o   reduced access to infrastructure; and o   economic underdevelopment.   §  Lack of essential services constrains and depletes property values; contributes to increases in criminal activity; and impedes growth and expansion of local business development, neighborhood churches and community organizations.   Many low-income communities seek annexation into the municipalities that often already exert extra-territorial control over these areas.  Due to the lack of municipal services and related historic underdevelopment, as well as heirs’ property issues, these communities are unable to meet current statutory requirements established for voluntary or involuntary annexation.   What does this bill do to address the needs of excluded communities?   Ø Voluntary Annexation Revisions   Creates a process to identify and recognize qualifying “distressed communities.” o   51% of the households have incomes that 200% or less of the poverty threshold   Reduces the required signatures needed for voluntary annexation petitions from qualifying distressed communities from 100% of owners is the area to be annexed to 75%   Requires the city to accept the voluntary annexation of a qualifying distressed community, provided that 1/8 of the boundaries are contiguous to the existing municipal boundaries and the population of the area is not more than 10% of the population of the city.   The city retains discretion as to whether to accept the voluntary annexation of a qualifying distressed community that does not meet the contiguosity or population restrictions above.   Once a voluntary annexation petition from a distressed community is accepted by the city, public services shall be provided in the same manner and timelines as provided in the involuntary annexation statutes, unless it is determined that the cost of providing water and sewer will exceed a statutorily established “safety valve” threshold, as certified by the city and the Local Government Commission.   Ø Involuntary Annexation Revisions   §  Adds to the categories of land which may be involuntary annexed by a city any area that “is completely surrounded by the municipality’s primary corporate limits.”  o   While this provision is not specifically limited to distressed areas, research has demonstrated that a number of excluded communities are trapped in these “donut holes” without access to municipal services that exist all around them, often in very close proximity (residents describe seeing city police cars and sanitation trucks routinely drive through their neighborhood to more easily reach areas of the city on the other side, without ever stopping).   Ø Grant Funding Priorities   §  Establishes priority in CDBG grants and loans or grants from the Wastewater Reserve or Drinking Water Reserve to projects providing water or sewer service to low-income residents annexed pursuant to any of these provisions.  Please continue to support the special provisions for Excluded Communities as HB 845 moves in the Senate.