Annexation: What is it? How can it Happen?

Annexation is the legal process of changing the status of your property from belonging to an unincorporated area to belonging to the area of an incorporated municipality. This means that you have all of the rights to municipality-provided services and the obligation to pay taxes to the municipality for those services. It also means that you lose the rights to some services provided by the Winfield Township government that provides services to unincorporated areas. Municipalities have their own local governments and elected officials, as does the Township. In order for a property to be annexed, it must be contiguous to the annexing municipality.

What are the Types of Annexation? What is the Process?

Two types of Annexation apply to our unincorporated West-Win area: Voluntary and Forced (Involuntary.) Within each of these types there are various sub-types, provisions, and processes to complete annexation. So let us examine each type of annexation that could apply. Warning: this section is tedious but necessary to attempt to understand if you do not want a big surprise in your mailbox someday:

1. Voluntary (non-Court-Controlled) Type 1: the owners of all properties within any contiguous area and at least 51% of the electors (anyone registered to vote) residing in that area may file a petition with the municipality to request annexation. Once all of the municipally required formalities are completed, the properties are annexed. No voting or Court action is required. (65 ILCS 5/Section 7-1-8)

2. Voluntary (non-Court Controlled) Type 2: upon a petition of a majority of the landowners in any contiguous unincorporated territory that is wholly bounded by two or more municipalities, the specified territory may be annexed by a municipality. No voting or Court action is required. (65 ILCS 5/Section 7-1-12)

3. Mixed Voluntary & Involuntary by Owners (Court Controlled): a majority of the property owners in a contiguous area and a majority of the electors in the area may file a petition with the County Court to request annexation. In this case, since not all property owners requested annexation, the Court will decide and may order a public vote on the petition. (65 ILCS 5/Section 7-1-2 through 7-1-5)

4. Mixed Voluntary & Involuntary by Owners with Court Ordered Vote: if an unincorporated area is greater than one square mile (640 acres) and contains at least 500 residents and is contiguous to a municipality of less than 100,000 residents (i.e., the West-Win area and Winfield Village) then the parties affected may petition the Court to submit the annexation question for a public vote. At least 100 electors and more than 50% of the property owners must sign the petition. (65 ILCS 5/Section 7-1-11)

5. Forced by Municipality (Court Controlled): a municipality may file a petition with the County Court to annex properties. However, no single tract of land larger than ten acres may be included in the petition without consent of the property owner unless the tract is subdivided into lots or blocks or is bounded on at least three sides by lands divided into lots or blocks. In this case, perhaps no property owners requested annexation, and therefore the County Court will decide. If the Court finds in favor of the municipality then the residents have 30 days to file a petition for referendum (vote) on the municipality petition for annexation. If no referendum petition is filed, then the properties are annexed. (65 ILCS 5/Section 7-1-2 through 7-1-5)

6. Forced by Municipality: properties totaling 60 acres or less may be annexed by force involuntarily without the consent of property owners or the Court if the area is wholly bounded by either (a) one or more municipalities, or (b) one or more municipalities and a forest preserve district or park district. There are several other possible “boundary” conditions including certain roads, rivers, creeks, and lakes but these will not be discussed for fear of making your eye balls pop out. However, some of these conditions may apply to our area. In order to be annexed under the preceding conditions, it is only necessary for an annexing municipality to issue an annexation ordinance and your property is annexed without your consent, vote, or court hearing. (65 ILCS 5/Section 7-1-13)

What is a Pre-Annexation Agreement?

An annexation — or pre-annexation — agreement is a voluntary, legally binding agreement between you as the owner of a property and a potentially annexing municipality. The agreement is “pre-annexation” if your property is not yet contiguous to the municipality, in which case the annexation occurs once contiguity is established. In the agreement, you specify the terms and conditions that you and the municipality both expect to apply to the property. For example, you may negotiate that you can continue to use your well for lawn watering if municipal water becomes available. Note that “higher” powers, such as the state, county, or federal government may prevail and supersede an annexation agreement in the future, e.g., provisions affecting septic and well agreements. The terms and conditions of the annexation agreement apply to you and any successor owners. The term of the agreement is limited to 20 years, and a public hearing and a vote by the municipal authorities is required to finalize the agreement.

If you decide to enter into an annexation agreement, you are encouraged to seek professional, independent, legal counsel to understand the limits and effectiveness of such an agreement. (65 ILCS 5/Section 11-15.1)

More Information & Disclaimer

You can find more information in the Illinois State statutes by visiting the State of Illinois online at www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs.asp. See “Chapter 65 ILCS/5 Article 7 Division 1 Annexation.” You can also find another summary view of the annexation laws provided on the web by the Ancel Glink Law Firm and can be viewed online at www.ancelglink.com/publications/ZoningAdministration.pdf.

The authors of this article are not attorneys and therefore this presentation does not represent legal advice. Every attempt was made to present the information accurately to the best of our ability. Annexation is a complicated business in the Illinois statutes. There are many “if-ands-or-buts” in the statues; there are even ambiguities that make the law unclear. The authors attempted to include only explanation of provisions that uniquely apply to our DuPage County environment, e.g., there are special provisions if property is contiguous to the Mississippi River or has a population greater than 500,000 or 600,000 (DuPage’s population is nearing 1 million.) We attempted to summarize over 14 pages of legalese into this “short” article. If you made it this far then you deserve a gold star!

Updated June 18, 2008 05:14 AM ET Hit Counter