Chattanooga settles final annexation suits

Ken Carey speaks during a meeting in the Chattanooga City Council chambers to discuss annexation in this file photo.

Chattanooga has settled the final two lawsuits stemming from a September 2009 annexation vote.

On Tuesday night the City Council agreed to amend a 2009 ordinance to give residents of the annexed areas an extra year before they have to start paying city property taxes.

Residents of neighborhoods like Ramsgate, Laurel Cove, Rose Garden, Jackson Square and West Point in the Hixson area will not become part of the city until Dec. 31, 2013.

Councilman Peter Murphy acknowledged the residents’ concession.

“They’ve agreed to come into the city,” he said. “They could have chosen not to but they didn’t.”