By Moses Leos III.
With the ever-present prospect of uncontrollable growth outside of the city limits, Buda city leaders are taking steps to mitigate any potential issues.
On Jan. 21, Buda city staff approved, but did not prioritize, the city’s 2014 annexation growth plan – a template that provides direction for Buda’s expansion. Ten areas of potential annexation were listed, with staff referencing six areas of interest.
Buda City Council plans to vote on those projects at an upcoming meeting.
Annexation at its core began in 1912 with the incorporation of home-rule cities in Texas. According to the Texas Municipal League (TML), a home rule system of government, “is the right of citizens at the grassroots level to manager their own affairs with minimum interference from the state.”
The premise of annexation is that a city absorbs an unincorporated area, though property ownership does not change because of being annexed.
Since 1912, annexation has changed in many ways – all of it to ensure fairness and equality among home rule cities in Texas. This includes the 1963 adoption of Chapters 42 and 43 of the Texas Local Government code. It also spells out the timeline city governments have to complete annexation.
Cities have 90 days to complete an annexation. This includes placing a public notice in the newspaper of record for a series of public hearings 20 to 40 days before the first reading of the ordinance. Cities must also provide 30 days written notice to homeowners in affected areas of the public hearings.
In Buda, annexation began in 2009 – the same year Buda became a home rule city.
That was also the first year Buda implemented its annexation growth plan. While not required by state law, the measure helps the city pinpoint priority areas for annexation.
It’s unique, as not many cities have such measures.
“I’m not aware of other cities which take that approach,” Buda Director of Planning Chance Sparks said. “It’s a conceptual discussion about where we annex in future years. Not many cities do that.”
Under Chapter 43 of the Local Government Code, cities are limited on how much land they can annex.
Under state law, each year, a city can annex up to 10 percent of the city’s land area. Cities have the option to save up annexation allotments, but cannot annex more than 30 percent of the city’s size in a given year.
Last year, Buda annexed 673.86 of the 1,417 acres allowed. In 2014, they are allotted 1,469 acres.
Annexation also falls upon two formats – voluntary and involuntary.
Cities must also abide by rules regarding populated areas. A three-year plan is needed for areas with more than 100 occupied residences.
Thus far, Buda has only annexed “sparsely populated areas” – those with less than 100 people.
However, involuntary annexation occasionally breeds controversy, particularly with homeowners in outlying areas.
Such an example occurred in December, when the city’s annexation of 52.44 acres near Eulalah Lane caused a stir. Residents were concerned the city was trying to collect property tax figures, and were priming the area for commercial development.
Mayor Todd Ruge dispels such assumptions, saying taking land and thriving off property taxes are not the city’s goals.
“There is really a lot of strategy behind [annexation],” Ruge said.
Such strategy will be implemented during 2014, as the city has tabbed six areas of interest. These areas range from the FM 1626 corridor to a large swath along Main Street, near Walgreens.
However, Sparks admits challenges are on the horizon for several annexation projects.
Several areas run the gamut of annexation issues, ranging from agricultural exemptions, to push back from homeowners.
“They all have challenges of some kind,” Sparks said.
Despite the potential issues, Ruge hails the annexation growth plan as a “proactive” measure, proving the city is strategizing growth.
““We can’t be accused, based on the list presented, that we are annexing because of businesses and [Buda] wanting tax money.”” Ruge said.
