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19 <br />When these conditions are met, the City can call for a public hearing to annex the parcel <br />through the adoption of an Ordinance. While the Township may object to the annexation <br />during the hearing process, it does not have the authority to “veto” or otherwise interfere with <br />the decision. If the City adopts the ordinance in compliance with the statutory requirements, <br />the State’s Office of Municipal Boundary Adjustments then certifies the annexation. <br />The third type of annexation is sometimes referred to as a “contested case” annexation. In <br />these situations, the City is considering an annexation that does not comply with the <br />Annexation by Ordinance rules, and the Township will not agree to a joint resolution or <br />“Orderly Annexation”. Contested Cases are treated like trials, held before an Administrative <br />Law Judge. Prior to trial, however, the City and Township must conduct a series of <br />negotiation sessions to attempt to come to an agreement. <br />If no agreement is reached, the judge reviews the evidence presented, and rules based on <br />specific criteria laid out in the statutes. These criteria are centered around whether or not the <br />area “is or is about to become urban or suburban in character”. This phrase is somewhat <br />ambiguous, however. As a result, Cities most often support their contested case annexations <br />with studies demonstrating growth demand and shortage of available land area, and the cost <br />of providing services to unincorporated areas. These trials have become rarer, and are very <br />expensive and time consuming. <br />One additional point about annexation policy relates to the City’s ability to recover the costs of <br />growth. Once a property has been annexed, the fees charged for development services <br />(such as sewer and water extensions, road improvements, etc.) must meet specific and strict <br />statutory requirements for “proportionality” to the impacts created by the development. <br />However, property owners do not have any implicit right to annex into a City. As such, the <br />City can negotiate a development fee agreement with the owner/developer of annexing land <br />to cover extraordinary costs that would otherwise be spread to the general City taxpayer. <br />This is an important factor to remember when considering annexation agreements and <br />requests.