Tuesday night Marion County citizens opposing annexation held a meeting at The Church on Main.
Grant McArthur, organizer of the event, said one of the reasons they are meeting is to get everyone who is being affected by the proposed annexation to sign a petition, which will be filed with Marion County Chancery Court 30 days before an April 28 status conference.
“The city is not going to be able to afford all the new sewers and everything else they are supposed to give us. So what are they going to have to do? They are going to have to raise the taxes,” he said.
McArthur, who lives in the area to be annexed, said it was important for existing citizens in the city to get on board with opposing annexation because he alleged there will be an increase in taxes for them as well to help pay for the additional services to the annexed area.
Mayor Justin McKenzie, when contacted by the C-P for a response, said there is not an intent to raise property tax rates. The mayor's full comments are included at the end of this story.
After two years of study, the Board of Aldermen approved on Aug. 22, 2019, moving forward with an annexation plan that would add about 945 residents and 3 square miles to the city limits. Most of the population would come from residential areas just to the east of the existing boundaries, including Lakeview and other subdivisions.
An initial hearing was held Jan. 10 where citizens had a chance to object. At that hearing Chancellor Deborah Gambrell, who will decide the case, set a status conference for April 28.
On Tuesday night, McArthur advised at the previous meeting the group voted to hire Columbia lawyer Joseph Turney to represent them. McArthur also said one of the reasons why they chose to hire Turney was because he has a vested interest in the fight because of having a building on Main Street. McArthur said it would cost each person $50 if they can afford it to help pay for the legal representation.
Some people already have water and sewer systems; what are the benefits for them is something people have asked, he said. There was talk about being within five miles of a fire station, and most people are already within five miles of a station so that is not an issue.
“There is no way you can’t see this is a money grabbing thing,” McArthur said.
McArthur said he wants Columbia to grow and thrive but he wants it done the right way.
Comments from the group included the city not having the money to afford the new sewer lines. “They have five years to do it, and I know they can get another three years if need be,” Roger Blackmon said.
“What about the roads?” Turney asked. “All these communities are going to have roads which need to be maintained. The supervisors don’t want to maintain them.”
The supervisors will maintain the roads outside the city, McArthur said.
Turney addressed the crowd. He said if the annexation is approved it will be appealed. He said the higher courts are not as in love with annexation as it once was.
He said one of the first things he wants to do is discovery, to see what documents the city has. He also said wants to see from the very first map they drew until the most recent one. He wants to know who was impacted and who isn’t now because if the court approves it, the court can draw those lines and add the properties which have been removed.
“I am tired of favoritism and preference and elitism. We suffer here just as much at the local level as we do state level,” Turney said.
He said the law said the lines are supposed to go to natural boundaries but that is not how it is proposed at the moment. Between the Reichhold property it recently acquired and private landowners there is plenty of room to expand already, he said. If the city wants to develop, it can always use eminent domain on a private landowner, Turney said.
Turney said if the city is able to get the annexation done, he does not believe the first improvement underground will happen in the people’s lifetime. He said the city can keep putting off until someone gets mad and files a lawsuit to make the city do it. He said that is how most municipalities do it.
“They are going to have to maintain roads that they newly take in and that cannot wait five to 10 years. I have driven your neighborhoods. Some of you have roads better than the City of Columbia,” he said.
“They run the lines up underneath your streets then each of your houses are going to have to pay to connect to it out of your personal pockets. They don’t tell you that. You have to connect up to the sewer. That is the residents or landlords’ responsibilities as the case may be,” Turney said.
Someone mentioned she was told that if the homeowner hooks up when the lines are being added then there would not be a charge; but if the homeowner waits then there will be charge to do it at a later date.
“That is not how I have seen or been told it has been done in the other municipalities,” Turney said.
The group's next meeting is set for Feb. 25 at 6 p.m. at The Church on Main.
The C-P reached out to the mayor Thursday for a response to some of the concerns expressed. Regarding the Reichhold property, McKenzie said it is stated in the deed not for use for residential.
He also denied allegations that the city plans to increase the millage rate after annexing.
“If more people pay a small amount you have a larger sum than making a small group pay a large amount. There is not an intention to do a tax increase," he said.
The mayor said one of the reasons why land has been removed from the initial plan is because of the cost it would take to extend the services, such as sewer lines.
Regarding the time frame of the installation of the sewer lines, McKenzie said a study was done to know what the city would be able to do financially and structurally. The study also played a role in the reduction of amount to annex. The study did confirm the work could be done in five years to the proposed area, McKenzie said.
McKenzie said if homeowners choose to be hooked up to the sewer lines while the lines are being installed, there is no cost to the owners. However, if the owners chose not to hook up at the time of the sewer installation, then the cost to connect, if they chose to do so later on, would fall to the owners.
