Once a new law takes effect December 1, 2017, many Texans who live in areas outside of city limits—known as extraterritorial jurisdictions (ETJs)—will no longer have to worry about their property being forced into the city limits through annexation.
This TAR-supported new law comes out of this year’s special legislative session and was one of the many ways Texas REALTORS® strongly advocated for pro-property rights legislation on behalf of real estate consumers.
Reforming the annexation process
Being annexed into a municipality has pros and cons. Annexed residents may have access to city services, such as utilities and law enforcement, but they will also be subject to the new city taxes and land use regulations.
Prior to the new law’s December 1, 2017 effective date, it was a city council’s decision whether to annex an area into the city limits.
The new law will provide residents more of a voice in the process … but what’s changing will depend on your county’s population.
Some cities will have automatic elections
Counties with a population of 500,000 or more are known as Tier 2 counties.
If the municipality seeking the annexation is in a Tier 2 county, the municipality must hold an election of the voters in the area to be annexed (with some exceptions). This allows the residents who will be impacted to decide whether they want to be annexed into the municipality.
Cities in smaller counties have options
Counties with population less than 500,000 are known as Tier 1. Unless the residents of those counties take action, the annexation process in those counties will remain unchanged.
If the municipality seeking the annexation is in a Tier 1 county, residents will need to petition the county if they want to vote on annexation.
If county residents want to have Tier 2 rules apply to them, at least 10% of registered voters in the county must sign a petition to put that request on the ballot. If that ballot measure passes, the county will then be considered Tier 2 and future annexations will be up to a vote of the residents in the area to be annexed.
What if your city falls in two counties with different populations?
For cities that straddle a Tier 1 and a Tier 2 county, Tier 2 rules will apply.
I think Proposition A is written in a confusing way. I have seen other propositions also written in a way, that makes you scratch your head and stand there trying to understand. It needs to be made clear to the voter what a for or against vote indicates. For instance most people do not understand what tier 1 and tier 2 means and should not get to the polls and have no one to explain it to them. I am having to look up this in advance and am able to vote by mail due to my age so at… Read more »
Mary Ann, you have a very good point, which is the reason I am on my computer right now. To many people don’t understand what they are voting on and the people at the poling sites either can’t by law or are just too busy with their very important duties to explain the propositions on the ballot. It’s up to us to educate ourselves and if needed others.
How does this law affect properties that have already been annexed, but roads are not being maintained?
Can the city annex your tier 1 property if you weren’t notified at all? Is there any legal recourse that the property owner can take to get out of the annexation if they weren’t notified?
We were forced annexed back in 2011. We still feel we had some legal rights but do not know where to turn. Contacted the city council but was a waste of time. We are on 80 acres but only own an acre within the 80. We will never see any benefit from paying city taxes. They also have not done a thing in providing us with additional services. There are about 8 property owners within our area that are in the same situation. We pay and receive nothing in return.
Is there anywhere we can go for help?