The Great Land Grab

By: Ron West

Not since the days of the great Oklahoma land rush has there been such an attempt to grab land for personal gain. The great city of Fort Worth, Texas is out to get 55 square miles of property to "help" the poor benighted and underprivileged citizens who live on the land. Their motive is totally altruistic and fully legal – sure!

Before you look at legalities of cities annexing land, it might be interesting to look at the definition of the word "city". It is supposed to be the coming together of people who want to combine their efforts and resources for mutual benefit. I don’t think city government was ever envisioned to be a power hungry organization that was designed to feed only itself – regardless of the wishes of the citizens.

Over the years, many citizens have had more than enough of government’s tax and spend policies and tactics and have elected to move to the country. They are for the most part, aware of the fact that in the "country" they may not have all of the city’s "services". They are also aware that they do not have to pay the very high "city property taxes" either.

You would think that most cities would want to "serve" the citizens. Unfortunately, today, city bureaucrats and elected politicians want the citizens to serve the city with their hard-earned money. More tax revenue seems to mean more power to the insatiable political appetite for taxes. The wants and wishes of the citizens affected are just not considered.

Can Fort Worth annex the land in question? Obviously the bureaucrats and politicos think they have the "legal" right to do so. Lost in the discussion is whether the action is beneficial to the residents of the affected area, whether they want to be annexed or not or whether such action is morally right. I believe that the only way it could possibly be morally right is if the residents of the areas affected approved such annexation by their vote.

The recent legislation that now requires cities to take up to three years to annex land still does not address the issue of moral rightness. It still does not require that a majority of the residents of land to be annexed must first approve such annexation. If you live in a currently unincorporated area, you apparently have been disenfranchised by the state regarding whether you will ultimately pay city taxes or not.

Mayor Kenneth Barr and the Fort Worth City Council have been likened unto a 500 pound gorilla in their dealings with the citizens of the areas being considered for incorporation. They are so hungry for the "tax revenue" that all other considerations are being cast aside. I suspect that the current citizens of Fort Worth may soon hear the need for an INCREASE in property tax rates for all of them to subsidize this egotistical land grab.

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