Washington County Commissioners voted in support of reform to Georgia’s Annexation Dispute Resolution Law during their Thursday, December 9 meeting.
County Administrator Dustin Peebles explained that the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) is seeking reforms to annexation law in Georgia; counties across Georgia are adopting similar resolutions of support for the ACCG to approach the General Assembly to revise laws concerning annexation.
“This is in hopes of making changes to that law; I’m sure there will be some pushback, but this is a resolution of support,” said County Administrator Peebles.
The resolution notes that: Annexation of unincorporated areas by municipalities may be appropriate to provide public services not otherwise available from the county but may be abused when its primary objectives are to expand a city’s tax base or circumvent a county’s land use plan or zoning ordinance.
The resolution adopted by Washington County Commissioners urges the Georgia General Assembly to follow the recommendations of the 2021 House Study Committee on Annexation and adopt meaningful reforms to Georgia’s annexation dispute resolution law during the 2022 legislative session, such as:
– Revise the procedures of the annexation dispute resolution process
– Empower the Department of Community Affairs to administer this process more effectively
– Better balance the oftentimes conflicting interests among counties, cities, incorporated and unincorporated citizens, and developers seeking different land uses through annexation, and as only State law can help reach this balance, State law must be changed to respect all parties and persons impacted by Georgia’s continued population growth
After discussing the resolution, Chairman Horace Daniel asked that Commissioners receive a list of everything the municipalities in Washington County have annexed over the last three years.