Bradley County records signed annexation interlocal agreement with Cleveland and Charleston, sets annexation rules

Bradley County officials on May 5, 2025 presented a signed Annexation Interlocal Agreement among Bradley County, the City of Cleveland and the City of Charleston to be entered into the meeting minutes. County Mayor D. Gary Davis submitted the document, which the packet shows was signed April 16, 2025.

The agreement, drafted under provisions of Tennessee law, limits annexation by referendum outside each city's urban growth boundary. It allows Cleveland and Charleston to pursue annexations inside their urban growth boundaries using available statutory mechanisms, but it bars referendum-based annexations outside the agreed boundary for the 20‑year term of the agreement unless narrowly permitted by the text.

The document sets conditions for non‑contiguous annexations inside the urban growth boundary: the city seeking non‑contiguous annexation must agree to assume required maintenance for roads or bridges that connect the property to the municipality’s corporate limits and to provide police and fire services (or have a contract to do so). If the county does not act to approve an interlocal agreement that meets those conditions within 90 days, Cleveland may pursue annexation by referendum within the urban growth boundary for the life of the agreement.

The agreement also addresses specific road transfers: with county consent the City of Cleveland would annex and assume maintenance of approximately 2,200 linear feet of Tasso Road NE from the current city limits through the last neighborhood driveway, and may annex sections of Minnis Road, subject to county consent. When contiguous annexations create new residential entrances onto county roads, the agreement sets a 1,000‑linear‑foot threshold and engineering standard for whether the city will take maintenance responsibility.

To mitigate fiscal effects from annexations between an old and a new urban growth boundary, the parties will form a six‑person Fire Tax Committee consisting of the County Fire Chief, County Mayor, a County Commission member, the City Mayor, the City Vice Mayor and the City Fire Chief. The committee is required to provide a majority recommendation to the County Commission and City Council by August 1, 2025. Between signing and the committee’s recommendation, the agreement requires the city to pay the current fire tax amount for any property annexed between the old and new urban growth boundaries for one year from each annexation date.

The interlocal cites Tennessee Code Annotated § 5‑1‑113, § 6‑58‑104, § 6‑58‑106, § 6‑58‑111 and § 6‑51‑104 and states that it will take effect only after Bradley County, Cleveland and Charleston approve the new urban growth boundary map.

County officials entered the signed agreement into the minutes at the May 5 meeting; the document was included in the meeting packet and is recorded as an attachment.