Latest filing in Bloomington annexation case: Remonstrators ask for more time due to ”pestilence”

In a June 6 court filing, remonstrators in Bloomington annexation Area 1A and Area 1B have argued for additional time to collect remonstrance signatures against the city council’s annexation ordinances, which were approved in September 2021.

The remonstrators’ basic argument stems from the fact that the COIVD-19 pandemic had caused Indiana governor Eric Holcomb to issue an emergency health order, which covered the time for signature collection.

The original 90-day window for remonstrance closed on Jan. 6 of this year (2022).

Area 1A is just west of Bloomington. Area 1B lies to the southwest.

The June 6 court papers include a response to the city of Bloomington’s previous motion on the same topic. Bloomington asked the court to disallow any extension of time to collect more signatures.

The lawsuit involving Area 1A and Area 1B is separate from the lawsuits initiated by Bloomington, one for each annexation area, filed against various parties, based in part on the idea that many of the remonstrance signatures come from property owners who had previously waived their right to remonstrate.

In Area 1A and Area 1B, property owners in each area separately achieved remonstrance signatures from more than 50 percent of property owners, but less than 65 percent, according to the county auditor’s certified results. If signatures from 65 percent of property owners had been collected, that would have meant an automatic stop to Bloomington’s annexations of the two areas, without review by a court. But achieving 50 percent meant that Bloomington’s annexation ordinances for those areas were able to get a review by a court.

The idea of an extension for more time to collect signatures is not new—it was a part of the original complaint filed by remonstrators in mid-March.

But now, the arguments on either side for and against an extension are starting to get fleshed out. A hearing is currently set for July 29 in front of judge Nathan Nikirk. Continue reading “Latest filing in Bloomington annexation case: Remonstrators ask for more time due to ”pestilence”” →

Bloomington launches salvo of lawsuits over remonstrance waivers, one for each area

On Tuesday, Bloomington filed seven separate lawsuits as part of its effort to complete the annexations of seven different territories into the city—one lawsuit for each annexation area.

All seven lawsuits appear to be essentially identical. They focus on the question of remonstrance waivers.

Such waivers are legal documents signed by a property owner giving up the right to remonstrate against annexation, in consideration of the ability to purchase sewer service from the city.

The city of Bloomington’s legal position is that any such waivers are valid, despite a 2019 law that invalidated all such waivers signed before July 1, 2003.

The lawsuits filed on Tuesday were expected. And their disposition will be decisive for the remonstrance efforts that were made in each of the seven areas.

The reason the status of the waivers is crucial is that they make the difference between completely successful and completely failed remonstrance efforts in some areas, based on the county auditor’s certified results. Continue reading “Bloomington launches salvo of lawsuits over remonstrance waivers, one for each area” →

Court action filed by property owners in two territories opposing Bloomington’s annexations

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A couple dozen property tax payers spread across two of Bloomington’s annexation areas have now filed a legal action under state law to void the ordinances that were enacted by the city council in the third week of September 2021.

The complaint, filed in the Monroe circuit court on Wednesday afternoon, lists 24 plaintiffs.

Listed as defendants are Bloomington’s city council, the city of Bloomington, John Hamilton in his official capacity as mayor of Bloomington, and Catherine Smith in her official capacity as auditor of Monroe County.

The two areas that will now get scrutiny by a circuit court judge are 1A just to the west of Bloomington and Area 1B to the southwest.

The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys from the Bunger & Robertson law firm. Continue reading “Court action filed by property owners in two territories opposing Bloomington’s annexations” →

5 of 7 Bloomington annexation attempts thwarted, according to county auditor’s certified results

Late Wednesday afternoon, Monroe County auditor Cathy Smith released her final certified results of the remonstrance petitions for seven separate annexation efforts by the city of Bloomington.

Based on the auditor’s certified results, remonstrance efforts in five of the seven areas have succeeded outright, because more than 65 percent of property owners signed a remonstrance petition.

More than 65 percent of property owners signed remonstrance petitions in the following territories: Area 1C (71.43 percent); Area 2 (71.98 percent); Area 3 (66.67 percent); Area 4 (70.79 percent); and Area 5 (66.67 percent).

Bloomington’s annexation ordinances for those five areas, enacted by the city council in the third week of September 2021, are automatically stopped under the auditor’s certified results.

But the city of Bloomington will almost certainly challenge the results, because those percentages depend on discounting some of the remonstrance waivers attached to the properties. Continue reading “5 of 7 Bloomington annexation attempts thwarted, according to county auditor’s certified results” →

Bloomington annexation remonstrance final raw tally: Automatic stop in play for six of seven areas, court review now possible for one

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When the Jan. 6 deadline passed for submitting remonstrance petitions against Bloomington’s annexation ordinances, the Monroe County auditor’s office was able to provide only a preliminary raw tally of signatures.

That’s because several signatures were submitted on the final day.

Based on the now final but still raw tally, every area but one would have enough signatures to meet the 65-percent threshold that automatically blocks Bloomington’s annexation attempt.

That’s the same basic picture that was already known on the final day of remonstrance.

What’s different is the status of Area 1B, which by the auditor’s count at the time had not yet achieved even a lower threshold of 50-percent. That’s a benchmark that doesn’t stop the annexation but does ensure that a judge reviews a city’s annexation ordinance.

Adding in the final day’s count has bumped the total for Area 1B past the 50-percent threshold.

But it’s still short of the 65-percent mark. The area has 2,102 unique owners, of which 1,342 signed a remonstrance petition. That’s 63.8 percent. The 65-percent threshold would have required signatures from 25 more property owners. Continue reading “Bloomington annexation remonstrance final raw tally: Automatic stop in play for six of seven areas, court review now possible for one” →

So-called ‘islands’ making strong effort against Bloomington annexations, as Jan. 6 deadline looms

From left: Patrick Ellis with the auditor’s office; and Area 3 property owners Darlene Stewart and Lisa Fitzgerald

Standing: Mark Furnish, Area 5 property owner. Seated in left of frame: Monroe County auditor Cathy Smith.

Area 4 property owner Susan Brackney.

From left: Deputy auditor Chris Muench; and Area 4 property owners Barbara Brinegar and Susan Brackney.

So-called ‘island’ annexation areas.

After Bloomington’s city council voted in late September to annex seven separate territories into the city, and the required newspaper notification was published, that started a 90-day period for property owners to remonstrate.

Remonstration means signing an official petition in opposition to annexation.

The 90-day window for submitting a signed remonstrance petition to the county auditor closes on Jan. 6.

With just a month left in the remonstrance period, the possible outcome for remonstration efforts in some of the annexation areas is starting to come into better focus.

Organizers of efforts to collect signatures in the three so-called ‘island’ annexation areas submitted a big pile of signatures to the county auditor this past week.

Signatures from other areas have also been coming in. Across all annexation areas a total of around 1,700 remonstrance signatures have been submitted so far, according to the county auditor’s office.

Each annexation area has its own remonstrance process. Remonstration could succeed in one area, stopping the annexation of that single area, but fail in a different area, allowing the annexation of the different area.

The picture is not yet clear for any of the annexation areas. And it will probably stay blurry until after the Jan. 6 deadline is past. Continue reading “So-called ‘islands’ making strong effort against Bloomington annexations, as Jan. 6 deadline looms” →

Jan. 6, 2022 deadline: Remonstrance against Bloomington annexations gets energetic start: “We are to be reckoned with.”

Monroe County auditor Cathy Smith (Oct. 8, 2021)

Monroe County auditor Cathy Smith and Ed Ochsner (Oct. 8, 2021)

Monroe County auditor Cathy Smith, Ed Ochsner and Jean Donatiello (Oct. 8, 2021)

Monroe County auditor Cathy Smith (left) and Susan Brackney (Oct. 8, 2021)

On Friday morning, the first remonstrators against Bloomington’s annexations showed up at Monroe County courthouse.

Friday was the start to the formal petitioning process for property owners inside any of the seven areas that Bloomington wants to annex. That’s because Friday’s edition of The Herald-Times carried a public notice of the city council’s adoption of annexation ordinances.

The notice is required to be published in a newspaper as defined under Indiana state law.

Under state law, the 90-day window to submit remonstration petition signatures translates into a deadline of Jan. 6, 2022 at 4 p.m.

Continue reading “Jan. 6, 2022 deadline: Remonstrance against Bloomington annexations gets energetic start: “We are to be reckoned with.”” →

Consultant scrutinizes Bloomington’s annexation fiscal plan: $866K bigger blow to Monroe County local income tax revenue

Baker Tilly’s Paige Sansone.

Illustration of how caps work to squeeze county revenue

A two-person team from the Baker Tilly accounting firm, hired by Monroe County’s board of commissioners to review Bloomington’s annexation fiscal plan, presented its report to the county council on Tuesday night.

Baker Tilly found that in Year 2, the impact on local income tax (LIT) revenue to Monroe County government would be negative $1.4 million. That’s a $866,000 bigger impact than Reedy Financial Group reported in Bloomington’s annexation fiscal plan. Reedy analyzed the impact as negative $534,694.

Paige Sansone and Deen Rogers, the accountants from Baker Tilly who did the work for the county, noted a handful of other issues with Bloomington’s fiscal plan, none of which had a significant financial impact. Continue reading “Consultant scrutinizes Bloomington’s annexation fiscal plan: $866K bigger blow to Monroe County local income tax revenue” →

Township trustee on timing for Bloomington annexation: “What I’m hearing…is that’s taxation without representation.”

Van Buren Township, which forms part of the western edge of Monroe County, sits at the southwest corner of the city of Bloomington.

Inset of western portion of Monroe County showing township boundaries, city boundaries and proposed annexation areas. Areas with darker shades indicate those parcels with a remonstration waiver, regardless of date. The image links to a .pdf with vector graphics but no labels.

The township’s trustee is Rita Barrow, who has been elected to the post by Van Buren voters.

But most Van Buren Township residents can’t vote for mayor, clerk, or councilmembers in Bloomington’s municipal elections. That’s because it’s only some small areas of Van Buren, with odd geometries, that currently are included inside city boundaries.

Under a current proposal by Bloomington to annex more township territory into the city, more denizens of the township would add city residency to their resumes in 2024, and get the right to vote in city elections.

But the next Bloomington election would not come around until four years later, in November 2027.

That’s a sore point with potential annexees. And Barrow raised the issue on Friday morning at a meeting of the Democratic Women’s Caucus. Continue reading “Township trustee on timing for Bloomington annexation: “What I’m hearing…is that’s taxation without representation.”” →

Video produced opposing Bloomington’s planned “island” annexation: “We definitely don’t want to pay higher taxes.”

The aerial photo of Area 4 is from the Pictometry module of Monroe County’s online property lookup system.

Closeup map of so-called “island” areas for annexation.

Screenshot of YouTube video opposing annexation of Area 4. https://youtu.be/TpX0e6pxhTk

Histogram of net increases in property taxes based on projections of Reedy Financial Group, Bloomington’s consultant.

If Bloomington’s planned annexation is successful, the city will add to its population an estimated 14,000 people, several cows, a pig or two, and at least one chicken, whose “eyes don’t work any more.”

For the hen’s owner, Susan Brackney, the longer phrase in place of a single adjective is a nicer way of describing the bird’s current abilities.

Brackney would prefer that she and the chicken not become a part of the city’s census.

But Bloomington’s annexation plan calls for Area 4, where Brackney and about 400 other people live, to become a part of the city starting on Jan. 1, 2024.

Area 4 is one of eight separate areas that Bloomington wants to annex into the city.

With an Aug. 4 public hearing on the horizon, and a city council vote that will likely come in September, some residents who oppose annexation are using the earlier part of the summer to organize their opposition.

To help with the organization, Brackney has produced a three-and-a-half minute video, which was posted on YouTube earlier this week. The footage highlights the rural aspects of Area 4, and features on-camera speaking turns from residents like her, who oppose annexation into the city. Continue reading “Video produced opposing Bloomington’s planned “island” annexation: “We definitely don’t want to pay higher taxes.”” →