A bill that would restrict the City of San Antonio's ability to continue its aggressive annexation of large stretches of unincorporated Bexar County will receive its first hearing in the Legislature today, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
The bill is introduced by Republicans State Sen. Donna Campbell (R-New Braunfels) and State Rep. Lyle Larson (R-San Antonio), both of whom represent northwest Bexar County, which is in line to be annexed by San Antonio by 2019, over the strong and emotional objections of the more than 16,000 people who live in the fast growing area around Leon Springs.
The bill, essentially, would prohibit the annexation of any land by a major city without the approval, in an election, of the people who live in the area to be annexed.
The City of San Antonio is 'strongly opposed' to the bill, saying it needs the ability to annex to maintain its economic strength.
But Councilman and Mayor candidate Ron Nirenberg, whose District 8 would include the area to be annexed, says the City may be biting off a lot more than it can chew.
"The dollars to provide the infrastructure and the services we need to provide do not exist at the level we want for the city as it exists now, let alone for the future," Nirenberg said.
At a public hearing last summer, some residents to be annexed actually broke down in tears as they described how they, or their parents or grandparents, will have to sell their home because they won't be able to afford the new property taxes that annexation will bring.
Many emotionally told San Antonio City Council that had they wanted to move into the City of San Antonio they would have done so, and some threatened to sue the city to block the annexation on the grounds that Leon Springs area residents were not afforded the same opportunity as residents along US 281 on the far north side to be part of a ten year 'non-annexation agreement.
Nirenberg says requiring a vote, as the Campbell-Larson bill would demand, makes sense to him.
"I think annexation exacerbates sprawl, which creates challenges for maintaining infrastructure, and in providing the level of services that residents expect," he said.
The City says the 16,000 people who live in the area to be annexed live there because of the existence of the economic engine of San Antonio, and most of them work, shop, and recreate in San Antonio. The City says it isn't fair to existing property taxpayers to allow those homeowners to dodge the property taxes that pay for the amenities like streets that the Leon Springs residents use regularly.
They also point out that a lack of aggressive annexation is what turned northeastern 'Rust Belt' cites like Cleveland and Detroit into hollowed-out shells, with all of the economic development in the suburbs. They also point out that no homeowners are likely to vote themselves higher property taxes, and they suggest that any 'vote' that is required by conducted not just of the area to be annexed, but of residents of the entire city.
The City says had this proposed law been in place in the 1950s, San Antonio would essentially be bordered by Hildebrand on the north and Southcross on the south, with the rest of the economic development happening in unincorporated areas.