Senate Study Committee on Annexation, Deannexation and Incorporation

September 22, 2015

Ted BaggettAssociate Director, Carl Vinson Institute of Government, UGA

Municipal Incorporation in GAGeorgia Law requires that:● there be a minimum residential population of 200 persons.● there be an average residential population of 200 persons per square mile.● at least 60 percent of the total number of lots and tracks must be used for

residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, recreational, or governmental purposes at the time of incorporation.

● shall be subdivided into lots and tracts such that at least 60 percent of the total residential acreage, consists of lots and tracts of five acres or less in size.

In Georgia, provided the above requirements are met, all that is required is an Act of the General Assembly. (All of the recent legislation has provided that the proposed city be subject to a referendum within the area proposed for incorporation.)

Incorporation Votes- last decadeCity Referendum

DatePro % Con % Creation

Date2010

PopulationSandy Springs 6/21/2005 93.7% 6.3% 12/1/2005 93853

Johns Creek 7/18/2006 88.1% 11.9% 12/1/2006 76728

Milton 7/18/2006 85.6% 14.4% 12/1/2006 32661

Chattahoochee Hills

6/19/2007 83.6% 16.4% 12/1/2007 2378

South Fulton 6/19/2007 15.3% 84.7%

Dunwoody 11/4/2008 81.2% 18.8% 12/1/2008 46267

Peachtree Corners

11/8/2011 57.0% 43.0% 7/1/2012 31704

Brookhaven 7/31/2012 54.7% 45.3% 12/17/2012 49188

Feasibility Studies

House Committee on Governmental Affairs Rules require that these be performed prior to the passage of a bill and that the incorporation bill must be introduced in the first session of the biennium.

Feasibility Studies - Methodology

Studies are intended to serve as tests for likely fiscal feasibility, not as proposed budgets.Based on what is currently being collected in revenue from the study area - will ends meet needs for services to be provided by the proposed city?

Feasibility Studies - Methodology

Each county’s revenue and service delivery arrangements are different. i.e. some counties have a LOST, but DeKalb has a HOST.

Have tried to look at expenditures by peer cities wherever possible because hard to estimate costs of county in providing services to a section of the unincorporated area.

Municipal Incorporation Across States

Georgia is one of only 7 states that require legislative enactment of a bill and do not provide for a petition mechanism.

The overwhelming majority of states (34) provide for a petition process that requires petitions bearing signatures be provided to an entity not part of the legislature for evaluation of compliance with state created minimum criteria prior to proceeding to a referendum.

Petition requirements typically provide that there be set boundaries, and some minimum % of voters and or land owners. Studies could be made a part of the petition review process.

Municipal Incorporation Petition States

12 states provide for a mechanism to submit petitions to a court:

Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin

Municipal Incorporation Petition States

15 states require approval of the county commission of the county in which the area is located:Arizona, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Washington

Municipal Incorporation Petition States

6 states require the approval of a specially created boundary commission or a state agency:Alaska, California, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee

Petitions in Georgia Process ?

Citizens for Sandy Springs submitted a petition in 2002-bearing signatures of 23,000 registered voters.