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MRSC Insight Blog


Posts for Annexation

A voter putting their ballot into a mailbox

November 2025 Ballot Measures: Cities and Towns

December 15, 2025  by  Steve Hawley
Category:  Public Safety and Welfare ,  Annexation ,  Parks and Recreation Finance ,  Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Programs ,  Transportation Finance ,  Licensing and Regulation ,  Ballot Measures ,  Business Licenses and Taxes ,  Property Taxes ,  City and Town Officials

A large number of city/town public safety local ballot measures appeared in the 2025 November general election, alongside those for transportation and parks and rec programs. Also appearing were a few charter amendments, citizens initiatives, and advisory votes. 

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An architectural model of a dense area of town

2023 Planning Legislation Impacting Local Governments

September 11, 2023  by  Jill Dvorkin
Category:  Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management ,  Annexation ,  Design ,  Housing ,  New Legislation and Regulations

Common themes among these six new planning-related bills include streamlining local project review, decreasing the planning burden on smaller communities, incentivizing annexations, and increasing housing supply throughout the state.

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Empty outdoor public swimming pool waiting for swimmers

Ballot Measure Highlights from the August 2023 Primary Election

August 21, 2023  by  Steve Hawley
Category:  Annexation ,  Parks and Recreation Facilities ,  Ballot Measures ,  Special Districts ,  Property Taxes

Primary elections generally see some ballot measures succeed and some fail across the state. This past August, libraries, rec centers, and fire districts fared well, but public hospital districts saw mixed success. And, as always,  levy lid lift measures achieved mixed results.

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Annexing Non-Contiguous Territory Outside City or Town Limits

October 23, 2022  by  MRSC Insight
Category:  Annexation

The Municipal Purpose Method of annexation is the only method available for a city or town wishing to annex territory non-contiguous to its jurisdictional boundaries. 

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2018 General Election Part 3: Non-Revenue Edition

November 13, 2018  by  Steve Hawley
Category:  Annexation ,  Cannabis Regulation ,  Forms of Government-City ,  Forms of Government-County ,  Ballot Measures

In this blog post, we examine non-revenue local ballot measures, including city and county charter changes, a city adopting the council-manager form of government, fire district annexations and mergers, and advisory votes on marijuana and downtown plazas and stadiums.

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