Voluntary Annexation Reform
Referendum - November 7, 2000
Please note: A recent decision by the District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2nd District, has ruled Ord. No. 00-63 invalid. Therefore, the contents of this section may be outdated. New information will be posted as it becomes available.
Background
On November 7, 2000, after nearly two years of preparation, the Pinellas Planning Council and the Board of County Commissioners asked Pinellas County citizens to vote on a bold new approach to voluntary annexation. The Board of County Commissioners had approved an ordinance detailing the new process in August, but required a countywide referendum amending the County Charter to put the new procedures in place.
Citizens who went to the polls on November 7 were presented with the following ballot question:
“Shall Article II, Sections 2.04 and 2.07, of the Pinellas County Charter be amended to provide the County with the authority to adopt by ordinance the exclusive methods and criteria for voluntary municipal annexation within Pinellas County, including the delineation of the geographic areas eligible for annexation to a municipality with such County ordinance prevailing in the event of a conflict with a municipal ordinance?”
The results of the referendum, as certified by the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections, were as follows:
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For more information about the changes that have have taken place as a result of the referendum, please see our Voluntary Annexation Process page.
In the weeks leading up to the referendum, the Pinellas Planning Council distributed over 200,000 copies of an educational brochure entitled “Your Opportunity to Vote for Voluntary Annexation Reform in Pinellas County.”
The St. Petersburg Times also published two editorial articles discussing the ballot initiative: “Annexation -- Pinellas Countywide Referendum” (November 1, 2000) and “A Times Editorial: State and Local Ballot Questions” (October 25, 2000).
Finally, PPC Executive Director David Healey was featured in the November 2000 issue of Governing Magazine. The article, entitled “Not-So-Smart Growth,”discusses ongoing annexation issues in Florida and other states.
