Berewick Residents against annexation

[Weedydidi]

Originally Posted by lovesMountains

I just don't get how someone who would "NEVER" have sent their kids to Char/Meck schools thinks they have a "realistic view" of them and the nerve to act like they do???

And what about the dozens of families that DID send the children to CMS for a couple of years and then fled the county?

Honestly, Loves. Don't act as though people all over Mecklenburg county aren't fleeing to Union and Ft. Mill because CMS is so screwed up. It's not just me.

[Metallisteve]

Originally Posted by Weedydidi

...Don't act as though people all over Mecklenburg county aren't fleeing to Union and Ft. Mill because CMS is so screwed up. It's not just me.

You make it sound as if there's a line of refugees fleeing a war zone heading to SC. I don't claim to be Mr. Networked who knows everyone, but I can't think of a single person I know who's moved (either recently or in years past) just to get out of CMS. In fact, I know an overwhelming number of people (myself included) who've moved INTO the CMS jurisdiction, knowing full well the talk that circulates about the system, but choosing to not be deterred by a contingent of vocal parents.

To this day, I've yet to get anything other than overcrowding, lack of teachers, and slightly lower test scores as a reason for CMS hatred. All of these have existed elsewhere for decades and people make do just fine. I'll use my school years in FL through the 80's and 90's as an example. I spent 6 of my 12 years in a portable in classes ranging from 20 to 40 kids. I was fortunate enough to not be subjected to the yearly standardized testing, but I do know the idocies it brings up (spending the year "training" for the test rather than actually doing what you're supposed to do at school: learn). I think it's safe to say that I came out just fine from a school system with the exact same complaints, albeit in a different state and time. I've said it before, and I'll stand by it: parents can make all the difference in the world in their child's school experience. Both in the social and academic experiences. We've had such a change in the way parents interact (raise) their kids that just seems too easy to blame something else for their kids' shortcomings.

To Ani...
Not sure I understand your question completely, but I think I caught some of it. If you're asking if other places in the country annex the way Charlotte does (or NC, for that matter), than I believe the answer is not that many do. We do have a relatively unique (whether it's a bad or good "unique" remains to be decided/argued) system in place to govern annexation that makes us different. I'm not familiar with any other state's laws except for Florida, which I've touched on here in this thread. Basically, Florida puts more weight in the property owner's corner when it comes to annexing, most of the time. Duval County has a similar setup as Mecklenburg where all of Duval is consider Jacksonville, FL...and I believe they have one government entity (like we have CharMeck). If I'm not mistaken, Duval County has no other municipalities within it's border, so there's no issue with dodging around Huntersvilles and Pinevilles. But back to the way FL annexes compared to us, for the most part, it's usually voluntary. That is, the property owner approaches the city and asks for it. Up until recently, the city would just swallow them up, regradless of what may lie between the current city limits and the new parcel. This resulted in the splotchy city limits line for a lot FL cities. Now there are ordinances in place to prevent that, requiring a contiguous city limit to reach a parcel before it is deemed "city." If I'm not mistaken, this may force non-annexed parcels to annex once surrounded by annexed property...but again, those surrounding parcels typically don't get colored in until it's asked for.

Hope that helps a little...

[anifani821]

Everyone around me seems to be very satisfied w/ CMS schools. But they tell me they chose to live here b/c of the school districts so I guess they knew ahead about the schools their kids would be attending.

[anifani821]

Thanks, Steve! You did answer my question. Here in NC, I have seen a lot of spot annexing . . . typically, the homeowners wanted it b/c they wanted city services, but in the last decade, it appears to me that the cities themselves have targeted areas to annex b/c of increased tax revenue - thus making it a "takeover" rather than a desired eventuality.

[talktime]

Originally Posted by anifani821

in the last decade, it appears to me that the cities themselves have targeted areas to annex b/c of increased tax revenue - thus making it a "takeover" rather than a desired eventuality.

Why else take Berewick??

[NCDave]

Annexation laws vary greatly from state to state. In most northeastern and many midwestern states, cities cannot annex at all. In many states, such as South Carolina, annexation is very difficult without the property owners requesting it or a majority of residents favoring annexation through a referendum. That's why many SC cities have checkerboard boundaries that are so convoluted that it's hard to imagine how the cities can tell who should get services and who should not.

North Carolina is one of only a few states where involuntary annexations are common. Basically, if area adjacent to a city meets certain development standards and the city can demonstrate its ability to fund and provide services, the area can be annexed without approval by the property owners. This allows city boundaries to expand outward to follow new development. This has allowed North Carolina cities to remain healthy, unlike those in many other states where city boundaries are restricted to decaying inner cities.

Charlotte follows a systematic, two-year annexation cycle. Next summer Charlotte will announce study areas for the 2011 annexation cycle. This will continue until Charlotte has annexed its entire sphere of influence. Charlotte and surrounding cities and towns have divided the area up into spheres of influence and have agreed not to annex into an adjacent town's sphere. Charlotte's sphere of influence corresponds to its ETJ - extraterritorial planning and zoning jurisdiction (which is another story). I think it's going to be quite some time before Charlotte annexes everything it can because much of this area will remain undeveloped for some time. Cities can annex undeveloped areas by mixing them in with developed areas, but it can get tricky.

Jacksonville, FL is a different situation. It didn't annex Duval County. Instead, the city and county consolidated governments. The consolidated government actually includes four small towns within it. Similar consolidations exist for Nashville-Davidson, TN, Louisville-Jefferson County, KY, Indianapolis-Marion County, IN, Athens-Clarke County, GA, and other Georgia areas.

Charlotte and Mecklenburg Counties are not consolidated. They are still separate governments, although many folks would like for them to consolidate. What they've done is to divide functions to avoid overlap. (e.g. Charlotte handles police and planning; Mecklenburg County handles parks and libraries.)

But back to Berewick. The Charlotte City Council approved its annexation last Monday unanimously. The developed part of Berewick, basically south of the Manor House, will become part of Charlotte effective next June 30.

[Ragdoll Kitty Lover]

I'm glad I found this MettalliSteve. This is the information I was seeking.

The difference is not as much as it is for Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. In Pfafftown, we pay WS rates PLUS the county tax.
So the next question: Do you pay both Mecklenburg County Taxes AND Charlotte City Taxes?


FCFORSYTH COUNTY0.674 0.674
WSWINSTON-SALEM0.6740.4675 1.1415

[Metallisteve]

Originally Posted by Ragdoll Kitty Lover

I'm glad I found this MettalliSteve. This is the information I was seeking.

The difference is not as much as it is for Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. In Pfafftown, we pay WS rates PLUS the county tax.
So the next question: Do you pay both Mecklenburg County Taxes AND Charlotte City Taxes?


FCFORSYTH COUNTY0.674 0.674
WSWINSTON-SALEM0.6740.4675 1.1415

If you live within the city limits of Charlotte, you pay city and county taxes. The County millage rate is one number and the city rate is another. They simply add onto each other and you pay the sum millage rate. Typically, city rates are lower than county rates, but together, they make the total millage rate more than what someone pays on the outer side of the city limits line.

For example (this is not the exact rates of Charlotte and Mecklenburg Co., it's too late and I don't feel like looking them up!):
Say the county has a millage rate of 1.000 for every $100 of assessed tax value.
Say a city within the county has a tax rate of 0.300 for every $100 of assessed tax value.
If you owned property within that city, your total tax millage rate would be 1.300 for every $100 of assessed tax value.

Get it?

[Ragdoll Kitty Lover]

Thanks Mettallisteve. Got it. I found the listing of taxes on the CharMeck.org site, and what you just stated explains it. You take the rate for Mecklenburg County at 0.8387 plus Charlotte at 0.4586, add together and get 1.2973.

The unincorporated is Mecklenburg County and Police Service District together, adding up to 1.0175, which isn't really a huge amount. So annexation would not change the rate by an exorbitant amount. I see that Mecklenburg is .18 higher than Union, so there would be savings there.

And if Riverpointe isn't on the current plans for 2011, then it won't be annexed until at least 2012. Thanks again

[flyingscotsman]

Originally Posted by Ragdoll Kitty Lover

And if Riverpointe isn't on the current plans for 2011, then it won't be annexed until at least 2012. Thanks again

Actually 2013.

I was expectedto be annexed in 2011, now the earliest is 2013.

They announce the study areas in the odd year and annex in the even.

Just for the record by the time I pay for garbage collection, the difference is approx. $200 a year.