Columbia’s annexation plan will be decided by a chancellor based on 12 factors of reasonableness. Let’s look at each of those to gauge how the city’s case stands:
1. “The municipality's need to expand.” Clearly, Columbia has been losing people for years and has many infrastructure problems, from flooding to streets. It also has had very little residential growth, with only a handful of homes being built in the city in the 13 years since Hurricane Katrina.
2. “Whether the area sought to be annexed is reasonably within a path of growth of the city.” Yes.
3. “Potential health hazards from sewage and waste disposal in the annexed areas.” Most of the areas inside and outside the city have sewers and good waste disposal already, so this is unlikely to be material.
4. “The municipality's financial ability to make the improvements and furnish municipal services promised.” Columbia, although not flush with cash by any means, is in solid financial position and would be capable of borrowing money through bonds if needed to do so to make infrastructure upgrades.
5. “Need for zoning and overall planning in the area.” Those things to help property values in areas previously just “out in the county” because they put them on the radar of developers if zoned a certain way.
6. “Need for municipal services in the area sought to be annexed.” This point will be heavily argued, and I suppose it depends on whom you ask. But a majority of Lakeview residents that have talked to me say they don’t want or need city services like police, fire, limb pickup, street sweeping, etc. As someone who lives just outside the city limits in the proposed annexation area, I see it both ways. I don’t really have a pressing need for those things myself, but it is kind of nice to have them.
7. “Whether there are natural barriers between the city and the proposed annexation area.” No.
8. “Past performance and time element involved in the city's provision of services to its present residents.” Again, this could be debatable, but I think the city does a reasonably good job of providing services and seems energized under its new leadership.
9. “Economic or other impact of the annexation upon those who live in or own property in the proposed annexation area.” No doubt this is going to increase property taxes for those annexed, and that should be their main reason not to want it.
10. “Impact of the annexation upon the voting strength of protected minority groups.” The original annexation area would have reduced the black percentage in the city from 40.5 to 38.8. Slaughter didn’t seem to think that would be enough to matter, but I’m not so sure. I suspect any decrease is going to be looked down upon by the courts.
11. “Whether the property owners and other inhabitants of the areas sought to be annexed have in the past, and in the foreseeable future unless annexed will, because of their reasonable proximity to the corporate limits of the municipality, enjoy economic and social benefits of the municipality without paying their fair share of taxes.” To me, this is the key argument for the city. The areas under consideration are for all intents and purposes part of Columbia today, other than not being in the city limits. A visitor would still think they were in the city, for example, if taken to Lakeview.
12. Any other factors that may suggest reasonableness: We’ll have to wait for the court hearing to see what both sides might come up with.
