05/02/2005 01:30 PM Senate COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS

   CSSSHB 133(JUD) AM-MUNICIPAL BOUNDARY CHANGES/ COMMISSION                                                                
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR GARY STEVENS announced HB 133 to be up for consideration.                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
1:38:51 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
RYNNIEVA MOSS, Legislative Aide to Representative Coghill,                                                                      
explained that HB 133 started as a single subject piece of                                                                      
legislation  addressing  aggregate   votes.  Existing  regulation                                                               
provides for annexation by aggregate  vote. This means that votes                                                               
from an area  to be annexed and the votes  from the existing area                                                               
are  counted in  aggregate to  determine whether  or not  an area                                                               
will  be   annexed.  Representative  Coghill  believes   that  is                                                               
contrary to intent and statute  because existing statute says the                                                               
people in the  area to be annexed must approve  the annexation by                                                               
a majority vote.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
Section  4   says  that   regulations  providing   standards  and                                                               
procedures are  subject to  state law,  which is  consistent with                                                               
the constitution.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
The original draft required a  public vote for the Local Boundary                                                               
Commission  (LBC)  to  bring  a   proposal  to  the  Legislature.                                                               
Legislative Legal said that would  probably not stand up to legal                                                               
challenge. The committee substitute  requires two public hearings                                                               
if the LBC comes to the Legislature with a proposal.                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
Another change is the language  prohibiting the LBC from changing                                                               
or  adding requirements  to the  petition.  The current  proposal                                                               
requires the LBC to publicly  notice the changes and provide time                                                               
for public comment.                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
The final  addition to  the statute is  the requirement  that the                                                               
people  in the  existing municipality  would have  to approve  an                                                               
annexation by majority vote. The reason  for this is that a large                                                               
area  could force  itself into  an existing  borough through  the                                                               
annexation. As currently drafted,  the bill requires two separate                                                               
votes. One  vote would  be the  area to be  annexed and  one vote                                                               
would  be from  the  existing municipality.  Each  would have  to                                                               
approve the annexation separately.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
1:42:18 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR GARY STEVENS noted Senator Kookesh was present.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
He  recapped and  remarked this  gives annexation  veto power  to                                                               
what could be a very few people.                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
MS MOSS  replied that  power already  exists under  existing law.                                                               
The bill changes  that by requiring the  existing municipality to                                                               
vote in favor of the annexation.                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
STEVE  THOMPSON, Fairbanks  Mayor, stated  three points  opposing                                                               
the bill:                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
          · Some of the earliest lawsuits in Fairbanks were over                                                                
        annexations  and   the  same   probably  holds   true  in                                                               
        Anchorage. Nonetheless, local adjacent  annexations do in                                                               
       fact work out to be the best for the communities.                                                                        
          · Fairbanks has run out of property and is looking at                                                                 
        adjacent areas amounting to  between 500 and  1,000 acres                                                               
        areas to expand and grow the community. The borough would                                                               
        like to improve the  area to the  point that it  could be                                                               
        developed as an industrial area or a housing subdivision.                                                               
        Under the  proposed  legislation,  if  there's  just  one                                                               
        person living in the  area, he or  she could vote  no and                                                               
        that would be the end of the expansion.                                                                                 
          · In Fairbanks 30,000 people live inside the city                                                                     
        limits, but 80,000 live  in the immediate area.  Jobs are                                                               
        inside the city limits so about 50,000 people travel into                                                               
        the community where they  work every day. They  expect to                                                               
        have police, fire and ambulance protection  and they want                                                               
        the roads  plowed and  maintained. However,  those 50,000                                                               
        people provide  none  of the  funding  that  it takes  to                                                               
        provide those services. People  coming into town  to work                                                               
        in the community work for employers in buildings that are                                                               
        tax-exempt. The Fairbanks Memorial  Hospital, the federal                                                               
        building, state  court house,  borough buildings,  school                                                               
        district headquarters, and schools are  all big employers                                                               
        of people that live outside the city and the city is left                                                               
        with no way to recover any  costs. Annexing the immediate                                                               
        area around a town  that really is part  of the community                                                               
        would help solve the problem.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
HB 133 could be renamed the anti-economic development bill, he                                                                  
quipped.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
1:47:23 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR GARY STEVENS said it sounds as though you believe this                                                                    
bill would cause more trouble than you already have.                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
MAYOR THOMPSON replied yes it would. It would slow down the                                                                     
ability to develop areas for economic development and it would                                                                  
be burdensome for the city if it were to try to expand.                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR GARY STEVENS noted Mike Black with Department of Community                                                                
& Economic Development (DCCED) was available for questions.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
1:48:47 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MS MOSS  said she  wanted to  address Mayor  Thompson's concerns.                                                               
She explained that under current  state statute, people living in                                                               
the annexed  area would have  to vote  on the annexation.  HB 133                                                               
takes nothing  away from the  current process, but it  takes away                                                               
the concern  that Representative  Coghill has about  a regulation                                                               
that is  inconsistent with  state statute.  That is  a regulation                                                               
that dilutes the voice of the people in the area to be annexed.                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
She  disagreed  that  people  living   outside  the  city  aren't                                                               
contributing  to the  services  and facilities  inside the  city.                                                               
Contribution examples  include user fees, fuel  tax, and driver's                                                               
licenses.  She also  pointed out  that the  state puts  a lot  of                                                               
money into  facilities in the  city. HB  133 won't slow  down the                                                               
city's process. It simply ensures  there are not regulations that                                                               
are inconsistent with state statute.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  GARY  STEVENS  asked  if it's  correct  that  currently  a                                                               
majority of the aggregate vote rules.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
MS MOSS  clarified it's  currently a  vote of  the people  in the                                                               
annexed  area. In  Fairbanks, Mayor  Whitaker made  the statement                                                               
that according  to regulation  he could do  an aggregate  vote to                                                               
annex  everything south  of the  Yukon River.  The regulation  is                                                               
indeed  on  the books  and  Representative  Coghill is  concerned                                                               
because that  regulation is inconsistent with  state statute. The                                                               
LBC has said  that it has never used the  aggregate vote, but she                                                               
hasn't verified that point.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
1:51:48 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR GARY STEVENS noted Senator  Wagoner had joined the meeting.                                                               
He announced he would hold HB 133 in committee.