Court Allows Annexing Without Services

RALEIGH — Municipalities impose property taxes in exchange for providing extra additional services to residents. Under state law, towns and cities may expand — involuntarily annex additional land — as long as they provide additional services to their newly annexed residents. Is annexation, with the associated higher property taxes still allowed under state law if a municipality provides few, if any, services to its new residents? The answer, according to the N.C. Court of Appeals, is “yes.”