Annex blocked by petition

COLUMBUS - Opponents of a new annexation law blocked it from taking effect by filing a petition yesterday to put a referendum on the November 2002 ballot asking voters whether the law should be overturned.

     "The law is on hold," said Carlo LoParo, spokesman for Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, noting that it will stay that way until voters approve or reject it.

     The law, the first overhaul of annexation requirements in 35 years, was to take effect Friday.

     The Legislature haggled about similar bills for more than two decades before the House, Senate and Gov. Bob Taft agreed on a version of the legislation earlier this year. Taft signed the bill in July.

     "It may have been debated at one level and now it will be debated at another level," said Don McTigue, an attorney for a coalition of cities that oppose the law.

     The law gives townships and counties more say in annexation attempts by cities and villages. It requires county commissions to consider the impact of annexation on property outside townships and makes cities and villages reimburse townships for tax revenue that is lost upon annexation.

     Ohio's current system compels county commissions to approve most requests by cities and villages to extend their borders into unincorporated areas. All that is needed is approval from a majority of property owners in an area adjacent to the municipality that is not "unreasonably large."

     The coalition delivered petitions with 231,829 signatures from 87 counties to Blackwell's office, LoParo said.

     Under Ohio law, 201,253 of registered Ohio voters, representing six percent of the vote in the most recent gubernatorial election, must sign the petition for the issue to make the ballot.