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Cookeville council asks state to restore property-owner consent option for annexation
Summary
The council unanimously approved a resolution asking the Tennessee Legislature to amend TCA 6-51-104 to allow annexation when two-thirds of property owners who own a majority of the property certify consent, a change staff said would shorten annexation timelines and cut election costs.
Cookeville — The City Council voted 4–0 to request that the Tennessee General Assembly restore a process allowing annexation by certified property-owner consent, an option staff said previously existed in state law but expired under a sunset provision.
City official James Mills told the council that the resolution (R25-11-21) asks lawmakers to amend TCA 6-51-104 to permit annexation without a referendum when two-thirds of property owners owning a majority of the property in an annexation area certify they favor annexation. Mills said the change would reduce long delays that can extend 12–18 months and sometimes hinder economic development: "It now takes months, over a year to even consider annexation," Mills said.
Public commenters objected. Trent Strode said the change could "privatize democracy" by removing residents’ voting rights in favor of property owners, and warned it could advantage property owners over residents. Farmer Gene Mullins and other landowners asked whether the resolution would alter statutory protections for agricultural property; staff replied the resolution merely requests the legislative change and that state law protections for farmland remain in place and would need to be reviewed in the final statutory language.
Council discussion noted potential cost savings from avoiding annexation elections (one council member cited roughly $30,000 in election costs) and argued the two-thirds owner threshold would better reflect property-owner consent while addressing cases where a single large-tenant property could outvote many smaller property owners in a resident referendum.
The council approved the resolution unanimously. Next steps: The resolution will be forwarded to Putnam County’s state representatives for consideration; staff said any statutory change would need to be examined for how it would interact with protections for agricultural land and existing annexation rules.
