BRENHAM CITY COUNCIL TO ADDRESS TEXAS HOUSE ANNEXATION BILL
The Brenham City Council will hold a special meeting Tuesday to discuss a resolution in response to a state House annexation bill.
House Bill 347, which is currently awaiting action in the Senate, would look to remove the municipal tiers system from current law in the cases of municipal annexation. Municipalities would not be able to force annexations without consent of the residents, regardless of the population of the county.
As originally filed, the bill had an effective date of September 1st, but the bill was recently amended to make it effective immediately upon passage if it gets 2/3 vote of the members of the House and Senate.
However, annexations that are in progress are grandfathered if the city council has adopted a resolution before the effective date, directing the city manager to prepare service plans for the annexations.
Brenham city officials said the bill “significantly limits” a city’s authority to unilaterally annex property into the city limits. City Manager James Fisher said the council is “trying to be proactive” in preparing service plans for areas in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) to be considered for annexation. When asked if the council expects the bill to pass, Fisher said “all indications is that it will”.
This resolution would allow the council to keep the city’s ability to annex property in the ETJ in accordance with law as of January 1st. The council would not be obligated to annex any of the property noted in the resolution.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the council will canvass returns and declare results of the city elections.
The council will meet Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m., at City Hall.
You can view the agenda packet for Tuesday's meeting here.