Welcome

The City of Muncie is trying to annex an area west of the city known as the "Western Annex" (ordinance #24-06 / view vote roll call). This area is bounded by Nebo Road on the west, S.R. 332 on the north, the Northfolk Southern Railroad on the south, and Morrison Road on the east. Also included in the annexation area are the additions of Robinwood, Robinwood Place, and Westbridge. The annexation region is comprised of approximately 925 acres and 1,628 residents (view map).

Annexation appears to be Muncie’s answer to arriving at a balanced budget. Since the city seems insouciant about spending within their current budget, they have decided to launch a number of annexation attempts to increase revenue (see article). For homeowners in the "Western Annex," this will amount to an increase of 36 to 50 percent in their property taxes. This increase will be especially difficult to those on fixed incomes and living paycheck to paycheck (e.g. most of us). According to the fiscal plan summary for the annexation, distributed a public notice to most residents in the area, the city will gain revenue of $18,295,424 through 2015. Since the city will not increase the staff of the police or fire departments, the non-capital cost will be limited to $97,936 for the same time period. That means the city will net $18,197,488 in additional revenue to their current taxation base.

For the residents in the annexation region this increase in taxes will not equate into additional services. Currently the area has police and fire coverage. The only advantage to being annexed into the City of Muncie, for some, is public library access. For people in the "Western Annexation," those in Center Township already have resident access to the libraries and will not gain from the annexation (card policy). However, for those in Mt. Pleasant Township who do not have resident access, it would be far cheaper to purchase a non-resident library card than pay the higher property taxes.

The purpose of this site is to provide information to people within the area of annexation so we can stop this bullish attempt. Community participation is required to let the City of Muncie know that we will not acquiesce to this land grab.

Checkout our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) section for additional information.

[Site last updated 04/02/2008: Added announcement.]