NC lawmakers about to make annexations harder
By EMERY P. DALESIO
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RALEIGH, N.C.
... The House voted 70-44 to allow areas being annexed to stop the municipal expansion with a referendum requiring a majority vote. The margin suggested it might be difficult for supporters to override a veto if Gov. Beverly Perdue stepped in.
The House also approved a measure 66-49 that would block or reverse annexations by Rocky Mount, Asheville, Kinston, Lexington, Wilmington, Marvin, Southport, Fayetteville and Goldsboro. That bill could not be blocked by a Perdue veto because it involves local issues. The legislation blocks a repeat of the nine annexations for at least 12 years ...
"The states that don't have annexation, the cities become slums," said Rep. Bill Owens, D-Pasquotank. "I support rural North Carolina, but if our cities don't progress ... it'll hurt economic development. It'll hurt job growth." ...
"It's a city whose tax base is so bad it can't adequately fund its schools" or police department, Rep. Kelly Alexander, D-Mecklenburg. "If that's what you want to develop in North Carolina, it's coming. ... You are about to make it much more difficult for our healthy and vibrant cities, our healthy and vibrant towns." ...
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