Bill would eliminate Harg’s maneuver

By RACHEL WEBB of the Tribune’s staff
Published Saturday, February 5, 2005

Proposed legislation that would give counties a voice in annexation would eliminate a little-used law that Harg-area residents have used to block annexation for a major development.

House Bill 447 would eliminate the so-called 2-percent rule, which enables residents to thwart a voluntary annexation into a city if they obtain signatures from 2 percent of the city’s eligible voters.
Instead, county commissioners could intervene when property owners request annexation, Boone County Presiding Commissioner Keith Schnarre said. County governments now have no say in annexations, Schnarre said.

"It doesn’t say we’ll intervene on every annexation," Schnarre said. "We can be selective on what we intervene on."

Few people knew about the 2-percent rule when Harg residents began circulating their petition, Schnarre said. The existing law makes it too easy for residents to prevent annexation, he said, and could stop city growth if left in place.

"If they’re successful, it will be used in any major annexation in the future," Schnarre said.
Schnarre and Southern District Commissioner Karen Miller discussed the bill yesterday in a work session with Columbia Rep. Judy Baker, a Democrat in her first term. Baker said she had not heard from anyone opposing the bill and did not say whether she would support it. Northern District Commissioner Skip Elkin did not attend the meeting.

In exchange for eliminating the 2-percent rule, county commissioners would have a voice in the annexation process, Schnarre said. The proposal would allow First Class counties 14 days to intervene once a property owner requests annexation into a city, he said.

The city and county would then devise a written agreement detailing which government would handle services to the property, such as snow removal or law enforcement.

In the last few years, Miller said, there’s been confusion in newly annexed areas about whether certain roads are under city or county jurisdiction.

"Part of what we’re wanting is on the front end of an annexation to have a plan saying who is going to maintain it, who is going to patrol it," she said.

Harg resident Renee Richmond said members of her residents’ group initially were in favor of the bill, but she was unsure how she felt about eliminating the 2-percent rule.

"I would prefer that the 2-percent rule be still allowed," Richmond said.