Voters to decide on annexation

Sisters citizens will decide in the next election whether to annex all the land in the city's urban area.

The Sisters City Council voted 3-1 on Tuesday, December 8, to place an annexation measure on the March 9 ballot.

Mayor Steve Wilson, who proposed the action, said annexation would give Sisters more control over a looming "tidal wave of growth." Three residential developments and at least two commercial developments are in the works within the city's Urban Growth Boundary.

"I would like to see us allow the residents to chart their own destiny... and not have 200-300 homes that count Sisters as their service center but don't pay city taxes," Wilson said.

Councilor Tim Clasen opposed the move, arguing that a city ordinance says that developers should be required to demonstrate the impact of their projects before an annexation measure goes to a vote.

The rest of the council employed an exemption in the ordinance to put the measures on the ballot.

The councilors argued that the citizens want only the opportunity to vote on annexations. The city had previously unanimously authorized two annexation measures for last November's ballot and voters overwhelmingly approved them.

According to Wilson, proposed developments in the UGB have been an eye-opener for "the people who subscribe to the idea that if we don't annex the land, we won't grow." He noted that, under the new city/county management agreement, the city will have to administer the land whether it's annexed or not and without annexation the city gets no revenue from the land.

"We're doing all the work, we're providing all the services and if we don't annex it now, we may never get it," Wilson said.

Changes in how cities can tax in the wake of Measure 47/50 have made annexation more attractive. Cities can now annex bare land, bringing it into the tax base and still tax at the full value of the property as it is developed.

The city council also authorized an annexation measure to bring a portion of Barclay Ranch into the city.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

• Email: editor@nuggetnews.com
• Phone: 5415499941