Starkville aldermen may take the first step in a potentially lengthy annexation process Tuesday, if they approve going ahead with an annexation study.
Consultant Mike Slaughter, of the Oxford-based firm Slaughter and Associates, presented plans for a potential annexation study to aldermen during a Friday afternoon work session at City Hall.
Mayor Lynn Spruill said she wants aldermen to consider moving ahead with an study now in order to complete the annexation process before the 2020 census. She said she believes it is a way for the large number of people, including students who live near Mississippi State University’s campus, who use Starkville’s services to be accurately reflected in its population.
Spruill said some of those residential areas to the east of campus, such as The Retreat, Helix and Aspen Heights, already receive some city services, such as water and sewer, through contracts with the university. She said those areas are “much more urban in nature,” yet those landowners don’t pay city taxes.
“(And) I believe that population bump is large enough — we’re right now at about 25,000 — to send us over 30,000 and perhaps as high was 35,000,” Spruill said.
Annexation process
Even if the city proceeds with an annexation study, Slaughter said the annexation process is lengthy and involves several steps.
After the study comes adopting an annexation ordinance. Then the city would need to file a petition in chancery court, present its case for annexation at a court hearing, and await the chancellor’s decision. Slaughter said there’s also time for any parties to appeal the court’s decision.
Slaughter said the Mississippi Supreme Court has outlined 12 considerations for municipal annexation: need for expansion; path of growth; potential health hazards; the municipality’s financial ability to handle annexation; need for zoning and overall planning; need for municipal services; natural barriers; a municipality’s past performance with annexations; social and economic impact; impact on minority voting strength; fair share (if people/business outside the city are benefiting from proximity to the city without paying city taxes); and other factors.
“It could be as quick as one year or slightly less, or up to three years for the process,” Slaughter said.
Slaughter said he typically breaks his studies into two phases. The first would cost $6,000 to $8,000, and the second phase would cost $5,000 to $7,000.
Aldermen considered an annexation study in 2014, but that process stalled in the very early phases after obtaining a few preliminary annexation maps from the Golden Triangle Planning and Development District.
1998 annexation
Starkville’s last annexation, in 1998, took in broad swaths of land in what is now the northern part of the city, as well as to the west and south. It almost doubled the city’s land area, focusing heavily on bringing into the city limits property near the Highway 82 bypass, Spruill said.
However, the city spent years bringing services and infrastructure to those areas. Some of the area annexed in 1998 still doesn’t have sewer service, Spruill said, but since there is no development in those areas, there’s no demand.
“The last annexation was a land grab,” she said. “I understand the theory behind it because that’s where the bypass was going in. … We didn’t take into account (the challenge of) providing services to places where there weren’t any.
“What makes this effort different is we’re trying to bring in people in areas where we already provide those services (such as water, sewer, fire and police protection).”
Board reaction
Five aldermen — Sandra Sistrunk of Ward 2, David Little of Ward 3, Jason Walker of Ward 4, Patrick Miller of Ward 5 and Roy A. Perkins of Ward 6 — were present at Friday’s work session. Three of them, speaking to The Dispatch after the meeting, expressed support for at least moving ahead with the study.
Little said he’s “fully supportive” of doing the annexation study, but will wait to see what it says before making a decision on pressing on with annexation itself. He said some areas near the city, particularly to the south near the newly-opened Hail State Boulevard, are likely to see growth, which could make for potential annexation areas.
Little added he is curious to see if the study would speak to potentially annexing Mississippi State University’s campus and the residential areas to the east of it.
“I think any potential retailer looks at the population base and what the demographics are when they’re doing their research and trying to determine where they’re going to locate,” Little said. “If we can go from the 15th largest city in the state to possibly the eighth or ninth, I think that’s a win for us.
“I would be against just a land grab,” he added. “I don’t think that would be a good thing. … We would have to be able to afford it and justify it.”
Walker said he believes the timing was right, especially with the 2020 census coming, to determine if the city should go ahead with an annexation.
“If you just look around, I think some of the areas to the east, south and north where we already have a lot of existing development around the university,” he said. “I think those are areas that are pretty high on the board — especially the areas around Highway 182 that aren’t in the city. Those or the types of areas where development could help pay for the type of infrastructure that’s required.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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