Annex trial set for Nov. 3

By Scott Smith
Tribune staff writer

June 30, 2009 11:49 pm

— The East Side Annexation remonstrance will go to trial 9 a.m. Nov. 3 in Tipton Circuit Court.
Judge Thomas Lett is set to decide whether almost 1,600 properties will be added to the city of Kokomo.
Lett set aside four days for the bench trial, the long-awaited “day in court” for hundreds of anti-annexation remonstrators.
Unlike the larger West Side Annexation area, the East Side Annexation remonstrators had no trouble coming up with enough petition signatures to force a trial.
Now Kokomo attorney Dan May must attempt to convince Lett that the city’s offer of annexation would result in harm to those being annexed.
Tuesday, May spent about 15 minutes in conference with the city’s attorneys in Lett’s chambers.
That was enough time to reach agreement on a trial date, and on deadlines for certain pre-trial motions.
City officials will have until Oct. 2 to make any changes to the fiscal annexation plan presented last year.
May said he expected some changes will be made, due to the city’s decision to lay off 16 firefighters.
Unless the city decides to hire back some of the firefighters (which Mayor Greg Goodnight has already said is a possibility), the layoffs could weaken the city’s argument that it will be able to provide better fire protection than the eastsiders currently enjoy, May said.
Likewise, there’s the question of the city’s discontinuation of the Kokomo Fire Department’s Emergency Medical Service.
While city officials are certain to argue no net loss of service occurred when Fire EMS was discontinued, the remonstrators are likely to argue the opposite point.
Under state law, the fiscal plan must give an accurate estimate of the cost of providing both fire and police protection to an annexed area.
Whether EMS can be considered an essential fire protection service is something which Lett may be asked to decide.
May said he may call up to 25 witnesses during the trial, including representatives from the various neighborhoods targeted for annexation, and business owners.
As with any Indiana annexation case, the law requires the remonstrators show they’re likely to suffer actual financial harm if the annexation occurs.
That means they must show the services the city plans to offer aren’t worth the additional property tax burden annexation will bring.
May had also considered merging the East Side case with the West Side case, but apparently that will not happen.
Right now, there is no trial date set for the West Side Annexation remonstrance.
A hearing in that case is set for 1:30 p.m. Sept. 29 at Tipton Circuit Court. Both sides are expected to come prepared to argue the issue of whether the westsiders have enough petition signatures to continue their remonstrance.
Only after that issue is settled can a trial date be set in the West Side case, meaning the East Side case will likely be the first one heard.
• Scott Smith is a Kokomo Tribune staff writer. He may be reached at (765) 454-8569
or via e-mail at scott.smith@ kokomotribune.com