§ 6-18-103 — Right to adopt city manager form - Incorporation within specified distances from existing cities

(a) (1) The residents of any incorporated municipality or of any territory that it is desired to incorporate shall have the right to adopt chapters 18-22 of this title in the manner provided in this charter; and thereupon such city or territory shall be and become incorporated and be governed as set forth in this charter. No unincorporated territory shall be incorporated under chapters 18-22 of this title unless such territory contains not less than one thousand five hundred (1,500) persons, who shall be actual residents of the territory, and shall also contain real estate included in the territory worth not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000). (2) No unincorporated territory shall be allowed to hold a referendum on the question of whether or not to incorporate under this charter until a plan of services is documented, setting forth the identification and projected timing of municipal services proposed to be provided and the revenue from purely local sources to be payable annually. The plan of services shall be attached to the petition to incorporate when such petition is filed with the county election commission. The plan of services shall include, but not be limited to, police protection, fire protection, water service, sanitary sewage system, solid waste disposal, road and street construction and repair, recreational facilities, a proposed five-year operational budget, including projected revenues and expenditures, and the revenue from purely local sources to be payable annually. Municipalities that are first incorporated on or after July 1, 1993, and that produce no local own-source revenues in any fiscal year, shall not receive any state-shared revenues during the next fiscal year. (3) Prior to filing the petition with the county election commission, a public hearing on the referendum on the question of whether or not to incorporate under this charter and plan of services shall be conducted. The public hearing shall be advertised in a newspaper of general circulation for two (2) consecutive weeks. (b) No unincorporated territory shall be incorporated within three (3) miles of an existing municipality or within five (5) miles of an existing municipality of one hundred thousand (100,000) or more in population, according to the latest census certified by the department of economic and community development. "Existing municipality" and "existing municipality of one hundred thousand (100,000) or more in population" do not include any county with a metropolitan form of government with a population of one hundred thousand (100,000) or more, according to the 1990 federal census or any subsequent federal census certified by the department of economic and community development. (c) Notwithstanding subsection (a) or (b) to the contrary, a territory may be incorporated if the following conditions are fulfilled: (1) The territory contains two hundred twenty-five (225) residents or more; (2) The territory is composed of property that is one thousand six hundred feet (1,600') or more above sea level on the western border of the territory and contiguous with a county boundary on the eastern border of the territory; (3) The territory is located within an area that is bordered on the west, north and east by the Tennessee River and on the south by the border between Tennessee and another state; and (4) The territory is located within a metropolitan statistical area. (d) Notwithstanding subsections (a)-(c) to the contrary, a territory may be incorporated that meets the following conditions: (1) The territory contains three hundred (300) residents or more; (2) The territory's western boundary is contiguous with the western boundary of the county in which it is located; (3) The territory is located within an area that is bordered on the north by the Loosahatchie River and on the south by the Wolf River; (4) The territory's eastern boundary is approximately parallel with the western boundary, but in no place is more than eight (8) miles from the western boundary; and (5) The territory is located within a metropolitan statistical area. (e) Notwithstanding the requirements of § 6-18-104 , or any other provision of law to the contrary, the petition for incorporation of the territory described in subsection (d) may consist of a letter from a resident of the territory desiring to incorporate to the county election commission requesting that the question of incorporating the territory be placed on the ballot. The letter shall describe the exact boundaries of the proposed municipality, indicate the name of the proposed municipality, and indicate under which charter the territory desires to incorporate. The letter shall be treated as a petition meeting all the requirements of law. (f) (1) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, whenever the governing body of any existing city affected by this section, by a resolution adopted by a majority vote of its governing body, indicates that it has no interest in annexing the property to be incorporated, and when a certified copy of such resolution and a petition requesting that an incorporation election be held are filed with the county election commission, then the proceedings shall continue as provided in this chapter as though the proposed new incorporation was not within the specified distance of such existing city as provided in this section. (2) Subdivision (f)(1) shall only apply in counties having a population of not less than eighty thousand (80,000) nor more than eighty-three thousand (83,000), according to the 1990 federal census or any subsequent federal census; provided, that in any adjoining county an existing municipality that is within the specified distance may also use the procedure authorized by subdivision (f)(1).

Legislative History

Acts 1921, ch. 173, art. 1, § 1; Shan. Supp., § 1997a120; Code 1932, § 3517; Acts 1955, ch. 7, § 1; 1957, ch. 347, § 1; 1971, ch. 260, § 2; 1974, ch. 776, § 2; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 6-1803; Acts 1991, ch. 154, § 3; 1993, ch. 320, §§ 5, 6; 1995, ch. 13, § 6; 1996, ch. 666, §§ 2, 5; 1996, ch. 708, §§ 2, 3.