The City of Bloomington will continue its annexation legal battle.
The city set to file a petition to the Indiana Supreme Court in early April, according to a statement from Mayor Kerry Thomson issued March 13.
Bloomington officials claim they have the capacity to annex due to remonstrance waivers — which state landowners won’t challenge annexation efforts in exchange for public services, such as water or sewage.
Last month, the Court of Appeals of Indiana upheld the Monroe Circuit Court ruling that the city does not have the legal grounds to challenge a 2019 state law that amended Indiana Code to void remonstrance waivers created before July 1, 2003, and waivers created between July 1, 2003 and July 1, 2019 that weren’t recorded before Jan. 1, 2020
Thomson’s statement said the city is asking for clarity on the rights of local municipalities to govern and plan their community.
The city claims the inability to move forward with annexation will impact Bloomington residents and Monroe County’s ability to receive public services such as road maintenance or first responders due to the lack of tax base expansion.
The annexation efforts began in 2017 under former Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton and have faced numerous challenges due to a state law that prohibited the annexation attempt. That law was later overturned by the Indiana Supreme Court in 2020. To further complicate matters, the state passed a different law blocking the annexation in 2019, which Bloomington is petitioning to the state supreme court.
The city argues upholding the 2019 law will impact how municipalities govern themselves and give the state the right to cancel “legally binding contracts.”
