一旦新法律于12月1日生效, 2017, many Texans who live in areas outside of city limits—known as extraterritorial jurisdictions (ETJs)—will no longer have to worry about their property being forced into the city limits through annexation.

This TAR-supported new law comes out of this year’s special legislative session and was one of the many ways 德州2021十大正规彩票app经纪人® strongly advocated for pro-property rights legislation on behalf of real estate consumers.

改革兼并程序
被并入一个自治市有利有弊. 合并后的居民可以使用城市服务, 比如公用事业和执法部门, but they will also be subject to the new city taxes and land use regulations.

在新法律于12月1日生效之前, 2017年生效日期, it was a city council’s decision whether to annex an area into the city limits.

The new law will provide residents more of a voice in the process … but what’s changing will depend on your county’s population.

一些城市将进行自动选举
Counties with a population of 500,000 or more are known as Tier 2 counties.

If the municipality seeking the annexation is in a Tier 2 county, the municipality must hold an election of the voters in the area to be annexed (with some exceptions). This allows the residents who will be impacted to decide whether they want to be annexed into the municipality.

小县城的城市也有选择
Counties with population less than 500,000 are known as Tier 1. 除非那些县的居民采取行动, the annexation process in those counties will remain unchanged.

If the municipality seeking the annexation is in a Tier 1 county, residents will need to petition the county if they want to vote on annexation.

If county residents want to have Tier 2 rules apply to them, at least 10% of registered voters in the county must sign a petition to put that request on the ballot. 如果投票通过, the county will then be considered Tier 2 and future annexations will be up to a vote of the residents in the area to be annexed.

What if your city falls in two counties with different populations?
For cities that straddle a Tier 1 and a Tier 2 county, Tier 2 rules will apply.