Time for Annexation Talk Again (San Antonio, Waco: HOA, houses, taxi)

[Rustybolt]

Well folks, while the furor has been somewhat quiet, the politicos are still plotting their takeover per this piece of news: West Bexar County experiences explosive growth It's time to relight the torches and sharpen our pitchforks! Frankly, the story is ridiculous with District 6 councilman stating the area will hold a million people in 25 years and Nelson Wolff saying it will be the size of Waco (with a population of 129k). And all their fretting about "how will we provide electricity and other services"? I mean seriously, while these areas are outside the city limits, CPS and SAWS still serves them and does the planning for those services to be expanded as required. They make up these nonsense reasons as being some kind of plausible rationale for annexation. Disinformation at its best.

[TexasRedneck]

It's all about "enhanced" revenues.......if they can provide services (fire, police, etc) for less than the income (uh, I mean "tax revenue"), they'll happily annex. If you notice, they're avoiding the problem areas around Windcrest like the plague.

[Rustybolt]

Exactly, Camelot II is the "Afghanistan" of Bexar County. Ungoverned and it shows. The rest of us are the "Ukraine" and the San Antonio City Council is our Putin. Problem, is, we have no protector other than a few like Lyle Larson and our own voices. We can't afford to roll over and just be victims.

[Bo]

Originally Posted by Rustybolt

Exactly, Camelot II is the "Afghanistan" of Bexar County. Ungoverned and it shows. The rest of us are the "Ukraine" and the San Antonio City Council is our Putin. Problem, is, we have no protector other than a few like Lyle Larson and our own voices. We can't afford to roll over and just be victims.

I'm confused by the disconnect between the first two sentences and the last 3. Camelot II is the prime example of something that wouldn't have been allowed to fester within the city. Code Enforcement would have been out there daily, issuing citations, if it were part of SA. The county's lack of resources to provide oversight in that situation supports the case for annexation.

The important thing to understand here is that you're misjudging the city's eagerness about seeking unincorporated areas to annex. The bigger force at work is that our county judge does not want to add the resources it will take to provide police and fire protection to those areas. Their best option to avoid annexation is incorporation into a municipality of their own, because the county government wants to get out of the business of protecting them. If they won't incorporate, he'll grease the skids as much as he can to get them annexed. The city is willing to do its part, because it would like the tax base, but folks need to understand that it's their county government that's driving the bus on annexation.

[Hedgehog_Mom]

From what I understood, the city wanted to annex Alamo Ranch, a section on 281 N of Stone Oak, Camelot II and an area at 1604/90 between Marbach and Hunt Ln (some of that is already within city limits...I believe Adams Hill is already part of San Antonio). I thought the plan was to use the revenue they'd generate from annexing Alamo Ranch and the 281 N section to cover what they'd lose by annexing Camelot II and the small section at 1604/90.

I live in the 1604/90 section and people out here were talking about incorporating but there are only a couple of businesses in the section that would be annexed, and the rest is all houses. It just wouldn't work, they wouldn't be able to collect enough taxes to cover the services that would have to be provided. (Not to mention, people in my area can't even get through an hour-long HOA meeting without screaming at each other and not getting anything done...how on earth could they manage their own city?) Alamo Ranch is different because there are a lot of businesses there.

[Rustybolt]

Originally Posted by Bo

The important thing to understand here is that you're misjudging the city's eagerness about seeking unincorporated areas to annex. The bigger force at work is that our county judge does not want to add the resources it will take to provide police and fire protection to those areas.

I'm not misjudging anything. I've spoken with the mayor and several council members and their intentions are clear, though the backlash has caused them to recoil a bit. They want the tax revenue to prop up other areas of the city that pose a liability. And you are right about Nelson Wolff. He needs to go. The county already provides many services to the city itself, witness the Bexar County Jail. I think a model like LA County would serve us better, with a larger entity providing services to areas incorporated or not.

[L210]

It's the norm for the county to operate the main jail where all of the cities take most of their arrestees. That's the county's job. It's required by law. The municipal detention center is for Class C misdemeanors and can be utilized by the county.

[ashbeeigh]

If y'all search the forum there are several threads already discussing this topic...for those if you confused about why this is happening it may help. They are good discussions.

[Bo]

Originally Posted by Rustybolt

I think a model like LA County would serve us better, with a larger entity providing services to areas incorporated or not.

That would require the county to have more taxing authority to bring in enough revenue to provide those services. The only way it gets more taxing authority is with a change in state law. There's zero chance that the current state legislature makes a move that increases taxes so broadly at any level, even if by some miracle, the governor came out in support of it. It's just not going to happen.

[TexHwyMan]

Originally Posted by Bo

That would require the county to have more taxing authority to bring in enough revenue to provide those services. The only way it gets more taxing authority is with a change in state law. There's zero chance that the current state legislature makes a move that increases taxes so broadly at any level, even if by some miracle, the governor came out in support of it. It's just not going to happen.

Plus, there are lots of important things municipalities can do (planning/zoning, waste management, code enforcement) that counties are not authorized to do. And like you said, it's unlikely to get that authority from the state. They've tried several times over the past decade and it's gotten no traction.