Signal Mountain will not have to wait until the anticipated Nov. 15 court date to find out the results of its planned annexation of Fox Run and Windtree, but it will have to wait until Dec. 31, 2012 to bring the neighborhoods into the town limits.
“We all decided together to settle this case,” Gary Starnes, attorney for the residents, said after asking the Town Council to approve the agreed order of compliance and dismissal negotiated between the parties which delays the effective date of the annexation. “Win or lose, somebody was going to appeal it, which would drag it out for years.”
He said his clients were happy with the fact that they will not receive their first tax bill from the town until October 2013. He also noted this gives the town two more years to plan for providing services to the approximately 200 homes in the neighboring subdivisions off Shackleford Ridge Road near its terminus with Anderson Pike.
Homeowners will save approximately $8,000 to $10,000 in taxes they would have paid as residents of Signal Mountain between when the annexation was intended to begin in 2008 and the new 2012 date, according to Starnes.
“As special counsel on this matter and as a resident of the town [of Signal Mountain], I think this is a great settlement for everybody concerned,” said attorney Sam Elliott, who worked on the case on behalf of the town.
When the town originally decided in 1995 to annex the areas in question, some residents bemoaned what they saw as a lack of value in increased taxes, causing public discord.
“Now what happens, subject to your approval, the healing process begins,” Starnes said. “There’s no more cantankerous litigation. We can bring the mountain back together with everybody being a part of it and we can now advance to being one mountain again with everybody being a part of it.”
The Town Council unanimously approved the conclusion order on first reading. The measure will come for another vote at the Nov. 1 workshop at 2 p.m., which is a public meeting, and citizens will be allowed to comment.