Voluntary Deannexation Question

[Terry Fowler]

Councilmen
I have been asked by two citizens already about the possibility of deannexation? The question from them was:
If we are allowing others to join, is there a possibility to allow them out?

I replied to each of them that I don’t know that answer. I was actually surprised we didn’t hear this concern at the meeting with

[Terry Fowler]

My last post was not finished when I posted it.

Councilmen
I have been asked by two citizens already about the possibility of deannexation? The question was:
If we are allowing others to join, is there a possibility to allow them out?

I replied to each of them that I don’t know that answer. I was actually surprised we didn’t hear this concern at the meeting from the apparent effort advertised in town.

Do any of you have a thought on this?

[Simeon White]

My last post was not finished when I posted it.

Councilmen
I have been asked by two citizens already about the possibility of deannexation? The question was:
If we are allowing others to join, is there a possibility to allow them out?

I replied to each of them that I don’t know that answer. I was actually surprised we didn’t hear this concern at the meeting from the apparent effort advertised in town.

Do any of you have a thought on this?

This is a great topic, I'm sure our citizens will be grateful for a clear answer on this. I certainly don’t claim to be an expert, but perhaps I can set us on the right course from the basic research I’ve done so far.

I believe Chapter 43 of Local Government Code would govern this topic. Of the Sections contained within, I think Sec. 43.143 is most applicable (Section Linked).

Basically, a petition is done by the citizens to collect at least 50 votes in a given area. Then those citizens will need to make a document of the metes and bounds for the area they are petitioning for. They present this to the mayor and an election is held. If the majority vote in favor of leaving, they are out of the town.

I would encourage the council to look at more than just Sec. 43.143 in Chapter 43. It would be worth our time to dig through some of those other laws. Like Sec. 43.144, which gives us options I didn’t know we have (Although we probably wouldn’t want to use the authority listed in that specific Section).

[Terry Fowler]

Simeon,

I have done a little reading myself. I was sent a message to read Texas Government Code 43.144. I feel that it is more applicable. I would like to hear the opinion of others on this.
(Sidebar; I named this thread deannexation but clearly the State of Texas has a term for it, Disannexation)

Sec. 43.144. DISANNEXATION OF SPARSELY POPULATED AREA IN GENERAL-LAW MUNICIPALITY. (a) The mayor and governing body of a general-law municipality by ordinance may discontinue an area as a part of the municipality if:
(1) the area consists of at least 10 acres contiguous to the municipality; and
(2) the area:
(A) is uninhabited; or
(B) contains fewer than one occupied residence or business structure for every two acres and fewer than three occupied residences or business structures on any one acre.
(b) On adoption of the ordinance, the mayor shall enter in the minutes or records of the governing body an order discontinuing the area. The area ceases to be a part of the municipality on the date of the entry of the order.

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.

[Brian Vinson]

Hey there, folks. Sorry, once I tried to access the site I found I had a password issue and it just got resolved.

I think Simeon is referencing inhabited land and Terry is referencing uninhabited land, so I think they are equally relevant.

Personally, I don't have issue if someone wants to be removed from the Town. The only reason that I can see for 'insisting' that someone stay in the Town would be for potential future taxing purposes. Since we are a General Law Town, we'd have to abide by Texas law in how the deannexation of particular properties would go, but I'm a consent-of-the-people kind of guy. If a person doesn't want to be a part of the Town, I'm in favor of letting them get on with life. When the time comes that the Town offers services (even including the free trash haul-offs) then those people obviously wouldn't be eligible. However, for those truly wishing to not be part of it, I think that is a simple trade-off.