Pros and cons were given to the Snowflake Town Council April 26 regarding annexation of properties contiguous to existing the town boundaries and the annexation process.
Dale Call of the Planning and Zoning Department provided packets of information to council members regarding annexation, which is “the process by which a town may assume jurisdiction over an unincorporated territory contiguous to its boundaries.”
“There are mostly pros,” said Call. “I could think of very few negatives to annexing.”
The pros include proximity and improved availability to political representation; town’s governing body more attuned with local issues and how to best serve the area; the town is a more attractive partner to developers than unincorporated areas; property owners will have increased voice in direction of local development; town services such as water, sewer, streets, flood plain management and recreational activities, along with local businesses, stores, post office and schools are currently utilized by nearby property owners; annexation allows these users greater voice in the future direction of these services; police and fire department services may only be available to town citizens; building permit prices are lower and more accessible in town than in the county; no change in taxation, greater voice in any future changes; and a larger political boundary increases the possibility of future development and population, which provides improved political clout, increases shared state revenues, and is more attractive to housing and big box development.
The few cons pointed out by Call included fewer financial resources available in town; property owners, in some situations, must now work with two governmental agencies; and towns generally have increased restrictions on zoning, building codes, home occupations and business licensing requirements.
Call then gave the legal steps for annexation.
“My personal feeling is if we’re going to develop, I want to develop for the town of Snowflake, and as we develop we certainly need to annex. I don’t see any sense of trying to do it any other way. I think industry and municipalities go together far better than the county,” said Mayor Kelly Willis. “I don’t want to put a lot of effort and a lot of time if we can’t acquire.”
“There are some services that we would supply, some we wouldn’t,” said Call. “Right now one of the benefits I feel like would be a service is the town doesn’t have a property tax, so there wouldn’t be additional taxes.”
Council members agreed that they wanted to concentrate on the economic development transportation areas that had previously been presented to the council, and Mayor Willis asked staff to focus and work on that.
