Annexation of Unincorporated Islands; Procedures; Provision of Municipal Services

1. Law
2. Georgia Code
3. Local Government
4. Annexation of Territory
5. Annexation of Unincorporated Islands
6. Annexation of Unincorporated Islands; Procedures; Provision of Municipal Services

1. The governing body of each municipal corporation of the state may annex to the existing corporate limits thereof all or any portion of unincorporated islands which are contiguous to the existing limits at the time of such annexation upon compliance with the procedures set forth in this article and in accordance with the procedures provided in Article 1 of this chapter.
2. Annexation of unincorporated islands as authorized in subsection (a) of this Code section shall be accomplished by ordinance at a regular meeting of the municipal governing authority within 30 days after written notice of intent to annex such property is mailed to the owner of such property at the last known address for such owner as it appears on the ad valorem tax records of the county in which such property is located. After the adoption of the annexation ordinance, an identification of the property annexed shall be filed with the Department of Community Affairs and with the governing authority of the county in which the property is located, in accordance with Code Section 36-36-3.
3. Annexation of an unincorporated island as authorized by subsection (a) of this Code section, which unincorporated island directly abuts more than one municipality, shall be by the municipality which abuts the unincorporated island along the greatest percentage of its external boundary as provided in this Code section, unless otherwise agreed to by the affected municipalities.
4. Annexations under this article shall be at the sole discretion of the governing body of each municipality.
5. Municipal services to the annexed area shall be provided on substantially the same basis and in the same manner as such services are provided within the rest of the municipal corporation; provided, however, that the extension of water and sewer services shall be according to the policies in effect in such municipal corporation for extending water and sewer lines to individual lots and subdivisions.
6. The provisions of this article with regard to annexation of unincorporated islands are severable as to each city and to the annexation of each unincorporated island therein.

(Code 1981, §36-36-92, enacted by Ga. L. 1992, p. 2592, § 3; Ga. L. 1995, p. 840, § 1; Ga. L. 2000, p. 164, § 12; Ga. L. 2015, p. 385, § 6-5/HB 252; Ga. L. 2019, p. 1056, § 36/SB 52.)

The 2019 amendment, effective May 12, 2019, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted "provided, however, that the extension" for "provided, however, the extension" in subsection (e) and substituted "islands are severable" for "islands is severable" in subsection (f).

Code Commission notes.

- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1992, "city" was substituted for "City" in the first sentence of subsection (f).

Editor's notes.

- Ga. L. 2015, p. 385, § 1-1/HB 252, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "This Act shall be known and may be cited as the 'J. Calvin Hill, Jr., Act.'"

Law reviews.

- For survey article on local government law for the period from June 1, 2002 to May 31, 2003, see 55 Mercer L. Rev. 353 (2003). For annual survey of administrative law, see 57 Mercer L. Rev. 1 (2005). For annual survey of local government law, see 57 Mercer L. Rev. 289 (2005). For annual survey of zoning and land use law, see 57 Mercer L. Rev. 447 (2005).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Notice.

- Owners of property annexed by a city did not show, under O.C.G.A. § 36-36-92(b), that the owners did not receive proper notice of the public meeting at which the annexation ordinance was adopted because the statute required that annexation occur no later than 30 days after notice was mailed to the owners, rather than no less than 30 days, as the owners argued, and the owners clearly received notice of the annexation within the required 30-day period. Bradley Plywood Corp. v. Mayor & Aldermen of Savannah, 271 Ga. App. 828, 611 S.E.2d 105 (2005).

City complied with O.C.G.A. § 36-36-92(b) by adopting the city's annexation ordinances within 30 days of the city's formal notice of annexation. Earlier notices stating the formal notice of annexation required by § 36-36-92(b) would follow at a later date were nothing more than "courtesy" notices that did not trigger the running of the 30 days time-limit, and, as such, did not invalidate the annexation ordinances that were adopted within 30 days of the later formal notice. Calloway v. City of Fayetteville, 296 Ga. App. 200, 674 S.E.2d 66 (2009).

Annexation held proper.

- By annexing a portion of a larger unincorporated area that was already qualified as an "unincorporated island," a city did not "create" a newly-formed unincorporated island in violation of O.C.G.A. § 36-36-4(a)(1), but rather simply reduced the size of a previously-existing island. Calloway v. City of Fayetteville, 296 Ga. App. 200, 674 S.E.2d 66 (2009).

Cited in City of Ft. Oglethorpe v. Boger, 267 Ga. 485, 480 S.E.2d 186 (1997).

ARTICLE 7 PROCEDURE FOR RESOLVING ANNEXATION DISPUTES

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