“Vote FOR Tier 2” is the message property rights advocates in five Texas counties want voters to remember when they go to the polls in November.
“Tier 2” refers to counties in which property owners are protected from forced annexation. The limited municipal annexation reform law enacted by the Texas Legislature last year defines Tier 2 counties as those with 500,000 or more residents – providing property rights protections in only 11 counties.
Unincorporated property owners in all other Texas counties — designated “Tier 1” — can be annexed by cities without their consent, unless residents vote to change their county to protected Tier 2 status. The counties that will have Tier 2 measures on their November ballots are Parker, Wise, Johnson, Freestone, and Palo Pinto.
Local residents in all five counties successfully circulated petitions calling for a vote on the issue, and now they’ve joined together in a non-partisan effort to educate voters about the ballot language and how their vote for or against the measure will impact property rights of residents facing annexation.
They’ve set up an educational website at www.Vote4Tier2.com, as well as a 24-hour Tier-2 Hotline at 940-435-7506 with pre-recorded information about Tier 1 and Tier 2 status.
Bryson Boyd of Wise Citizens for Property Rights has started weekly “Tier 2 Tuesday” broadcasts on Facebook, and his group is hosting a Stop Forced Annexation in Wise County campaign kickoff event this Saturday, September 22. Billboards have also gone up in Wise county.
Laura Hester of Stop Forced Annexation in Parker County told Texas Scorecard they’ll have billboards up as well in a couple of weeks, and more campaign events are planned between now and Election Day in Parker and Wise, as well as Johnson, Freestone, and Palo Pinto counties.
The Texas Association of Realtors is also joining the fight to stop forced annexation. Their Issues Mobilization PAC has a website promoting the #Vote4Tier2 movement, at StopForcedAnnexation.com.
To participate in the November 6 election, voters must register by October 9. Early voting begins October 22.
