Annexation vote gaining traction
It’s hard to argue with the notion of a popular vote on just about any issue. The idea gives us a chance to express a sense of common purpose. Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell’s endorsement of a vote by residents on annexation proposals — related this week to the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations — reflects the feelings of a lot of people in this community and beyond.
If Luttrell and other proponents in the General Assembly and elsewhere are successful, thoughtful and well-informed voters will have a lot of factors to weigh, of course, beyond the immediate appeal of independence.
Areas targeted for annexation are quite often the product of the core city’s jobs, shopping and recreational opportunities as well as markets for the goods and services produced by suburban residents. Often they have been developed as bedroom communities for those who are dependent on the city for their livelihoods but prefer the suburban lifestyle. This interdependency is amplified when out-migration occurs, the tax base of a core city declines and it is forced to cut services — more potholes, fewer police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians and the like.
Luttrell’s endorsement of a residential vote on annexations was tempered with the acknowledgment that it leaves out on a limb taxpayers of municipalities that have funded expansion of utilities and roads into areas outside their boundaries. State Sen. Jim Kyle, D-Memphis, a member of the commission, offered an example: Memphis’ extension of sewer lines into the Gray’s Creek area of eastern Shelby County, where annexation plans are on hold.
Nevertheless, the proposal to extend the power of the ballot box on annexation proposals is believed to be gathering momentum in the General Assembly.
Supporters of de-annexation proposals such as the secession campaign in Cordova are also lobbying for legislative relief.
Their efforts began in earnest this spring when the Shelby County Election Commission, relying on an opinion from Mark Goins, the state coordinator of elections, said the residents’ request for an election on the matter was flawed because de-annexation must by initiated by the municipality, not citizens.
The group wants to move the Memphis city limits to exclude an area stretching south from the U.S. 70/64 corridors on the north to the Wolf River on the south. It also is exploring potential legal remedies to the Election Commission’s rejection.
Again, well-informed, objective voters would have to consider whether their quality of life would be affected by the financial vitality and the quality of public services in the city where many residents work, shop or take advantage of what it has to offer in the way of cultural or recreational attractions.