AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s (TPPF) Center for Local Governance Senior Policy Analyst Jess Fields will testify before the Texas House Land & Resource Management Committee TODAY, Monday, March 9, at 2:00 p.m. CDT or upon final adjournment in room E2.016 of the Texas State Capitol. Mr. Fields will testify on legislation addressing annexation reform.
“Property owners who are annexed should be able to have a remedy if they don’t get the services that they are supposed to get,” said Fields. “HB359 clarifies the existing language in state statute to ensure that annexations must provide the services that are promised in the service plan. This is a fundamental and important reform under the current annexation rules.
“The annexation process lacks in accountability and it’s simply too easy for municipalities to pick and choose which areas to annex. HB555 is a bill that would improve the process by requiring cities to treat property owners more equally. Annexation should not be a tax grab, and the bill would help to eliminate that problem.
“Ideally, Texans should have have a say in the annexation process, before their property is forcefully brought into a municipality, with all the regulations and taxes that come with that. While neither of these bills go that far, any measure that improves the accountability of this arcane and out-of-date process is a positive step in the right direction."
WHO: The Hon. Jess Fields, Senior Policy Analyst, Center for Local Governance, TPPF
WHAT: Testimony before the Texas House Land & Resource Management Committee
WHEN: TODAY, Monday, March 9, 2015
2:00 p.m. CDT or upon final adjournment
WHERE: Texas State Capitol, Room E2.016
More information about the hearing can be found at: http://txpo.li/1AaM71q
To schedule an interview with Mr. Fields, please contact Caroline Espinosa at [email protected] or 512-472-2700.
The Hon. Jess Fields is the Senior Policy Analyst in the Center for Local Governance at the Texas Public Policy Foundation and a former College Station City Councilman.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas.