“The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge”
Daniel Boorstin, 1984 Librarian of Congress

The city commission recently was reviewing some water improvement grant work that was actually performed in an area outside the city limits. There are several areas that are physically outside the city limits but they still receive some city services such as water and /or sewage. However since they reside outside of the incorporated areas and therefore do not pay city taxes, we charge a premium fee ( $10.00 per month extra).

We determined that due to the medium valuation of the houses in this particular neighborhood, the residents would actually save a few dollars by being incorporated (annexed) into the city and paying city taxes but not paying the ($10/mo) premium. By being in the city, these residents would also obtain a better fire code rating which would result in additional savings via lower homeowners insurance premiums. So by being annexed, the property owners in this subdivision would save money each and every year. Read the rest of this entry →