Last Updated on November 15, 2016 by cassnetwork
Separate legal opinions have reached the same conclusion.
An area southwest of Logansport annexed by the previous city council will not be inside city boundaries.
Sue Beesley, the Indianapolis annexation attorney on retainer with the city, and Jeff Stanton, the Cass County attorney, have advised Mayor Dave Kitchell that the annexation of the area contested in an Indiana Court of Appeals case last year cannot be filed with the Cass County Auditor’s Office. The reasons stem from two deadlines that have already been passed. After the state court ruled in the case Jan. 8, Washington Township residents had up to 30 days to file their remonstrance case again with the Indiana Supreme Court. They didn’t file within that time, but the city had only 90 days after the Jan. 8 filing to officially file the annexation with County Auditor Van Ide’s office. Since the period ended on a Sunday, the last date to file the official papers for annexation was May 9.
“Barring any further legal action initiated and approved by the city council or any change in state law, the annexation is effectively dead,” Kitchell said this afternoon. “We were advised last week for the first time that this annexation could no longer legally be accepted by the county. After referring the matter to the county attorney for his review, he concurred with the finding.”
The mayor said the voided annexation, which resulted from a 2013 city council ordinance, will not lower taxes for those residents and business owners affected because they never were officially on the tax rolls.
The mayor said he will continue to pursue annexing the Unger Addition and the Logansport State Hospital southwest of the city. Those areas were not included in the Washington Township case. County officials have indicated they will support extending water and sewer lines from the city to the county industrial park at Clymers. Earlier this year, county and city officials agreed to dismiss legal action against each other with the understanding that officials would work together to extend utility lines to the industrial park.
SOURCE: News release from Logansport Mayor Dave Kitchell