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Under current law, a municipality can annex land without the consent of the residents and landowners, including for limited purposes. HB 424 makes many major changes to Texas code regarding municipal annexation, as well as providing minor updates to statutory language.
The major changes include restricting the ability of municipalities to annex various areas involuntarily; instead requiring the poplar consent of residents and landowners, and mitigating municipal authority to enact limited-purpose annexations as well as annexations of non-contiguous areas. This legislation would also put in place new procedures with regard to public hearings, owner-requested annexation, and services provided by municipalities in annexed areas.
This bill upholds the principles of limited government and private property rights by restricting municipal authority to annex various areas and by introducing new requirements for popular consent. For these reasons, we support HB 424.