RFP Staff
♦A fourth major issue, during the fall campaign for Salisbury City Council, is Salisbury’s inequitable treatment of its forcibly annexed residents. Its possible for Salisbury to do the right thing and voluntarily de-annex those forcibly annexed neighborhoods suffering callous bondage to the city. Voluntarily de-annexation would be a wise and empathetic choice for the city to make. Another possible option might be for the city to offer the forcibly annexed something worthwhile to stay. Its apparent to anyone studying the forcibly annexed folks’ plight that they received no equitable exchange for being taken over. The forcibly annexed, never desiring to be part of Salisbury, lost big. Let’s consider what they lost:
◊ Their property tax rate doubled.
◊ Many were forced to pay in the vicinity of over $5,000 to run water and sewer lines out to the curb when they already had wells and septic tanks up to code.
◊ Salisbury duplicated already existing services in the forcibly annexed neighborhoods. For example many forcibly annexed were saddled with extra utility costs for Salisbury putting up light poles when most of the forcibly annexed already had Duke Energy light poles. Other duplicate services included police, fire, and EMS. Some forcibly annexed neighborhoods got stuck paying storm water fees, $4.25 per month for non-existent storm water drains and runoffs.
Many struggle economically in the forcibly annexed areas and are unable to keep up with their city taxes.
Here are a selection of previous Rowan Free Press articles focusing on the plight of the forcibly annexed and various ways they can get out from under Salisbury’s heel:
http://rowanfreepress.com/2013/06/19/let-my-people-go-the-forcibly-annexed-in-salisbury-want-out/
http://rowanfreepress.com/2013/02/27/breakout-the-growing-de-annexation-movement-in-salisbury-nc/
http://rowanfreepress.com/2012/04/21/forced-annexation-an-interview-with-larry-wright/
