Council moves to remove municipal-code signature provision that could let public entities block annexation petitions

The Midway City Council voted April 21 to remove a municipal‑code provision that required the signature of owners of publicly owned property (other than federal) within an annexation area on annexation petitions. Council members said the local requirement could allow a county or state entity to block an annexation by refusing to sign, and they directed staff to revise the code to reference state statutory thresholds instead.

Brad explained that the municipal code currently states that if any part of the area proposed for annexation is owned by a public entity other than the federal government, the owner of each publicly owned parcel within the area must sign the petition. He said Midway had signed a petition in a recent case because part of the right of way in the petition area is city‑owned; he clarified that signing in that instance was a technical compliance, not evidence of council support.

Several council members noted state law relies on property owner thresholds (for example, signatures representing at least 50% of owners and one‑third of taxable value) and questioned why the local code would grant a unilateral ability for a public entity to stop a petition at the petition stage. "If a county entity refused to sign, that could stop us from annexing," one council member said, adding that reliance on state code thresholds would be preferable.

The council moved to eliminate the local signature provision and direct staff to update the municipal code language consistent with state code. The motion passed on an aye vote. Staff will prepare ordinance language referencing state code and return it for a future council action if needed.