Columbia aldermen are weighing annexing areas mostly to the north, east and south of the existing city limits. A consultant presented the first part of his study Feb. 7, which involves demographics of the area under consideration. The next part would be looking at how much it would cost the city to provide services like running sewer lines and having police patrols.
Mississippi case law recognizes 12 tests to determine the reasonable of annexation. Here they are as cited in a 2003 Mississippi Supreme Court case regarding an annexation plan by Petal:
1. The municipality's need to expand
2. Whether the area sought to be annexed is reasonably within a path of growth of the city
3. Potential health hazards from sewage and waste disposal in the annexed areas
4. The municipality’s financial ability to make the improvements and furnish municipal services promised
5. Need for zoning and overall planning in the area
6. Need for municipal services in the area sought to be annexed
7. Whether there are natural barriers between the city and the proposed annexation area
8. Past performance and time element involved in the city's provision of services to its present residents
9. Economic or other impact of the annexation upon those who live in or own property in the proposed annexation area
10. Impact of the annexation upon the voting strength of protected minority groups
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
12. Any other factors that may suggest reasonableness.
The courts have ruled all those factors should be taken together to weigh the overall reasonableness of the annexation. At first glance, Columbia has a strong case.
It needs to expand because it has been losing population and not generating enough revenue to cover maintenance of roads and other necessities. That’s led the city to have to raise water fees, property taxes and garbage costs in the past year.
The area to be annexed already feels like part of the city, and there’s no reason to doubt Columbia would follow through on its obligations to provide services.
Cities naturally evolve over time based on economic and demographic trends, requiring updates to the official boundaries so as to generate the money needed to keep up infrastructure. Otherwise, you have people living on the edges of cities, benefitting from its presence but not contributing, as point No. 11 addresses. In Columbia’s case, it makes sense to move forward to determine more precise estimates of what annexation will cost.
— Charlie Smith