Townships Might Get a New Weapon Against Annexation
Vol. III, No. 327 - A New Piece of Legislation is Introduced in Columbus
Imagine you own a piece of land just outside a city. The city wants that land for annexation purposes. Under Ohio law, if you agree to let it be annexed, the city can make that happen quickly and there is almost nothing your township can do to stop it. That is how the current system has worked for years. But a new bill in Columbus could change that.
State Representative Thomas Hall (R-Madison Township, Butler County) recently introduced House Bill 829 in the Ohio General Assembly. The bill, if passed, would give townships the ability to formally object to certain types of annexations — and when they do, that objection would stop the annexation in its tracks. Right now, townships can technically say they object, but that objection does not carry much legal weight. Under HB 829, a township objection would actually matter.
What is Annexation?
Annexation is the process where a city or village expands its borders by taking in land from a nearby township. When land gets annexed, it becomes part of the city. That means the city now controls zoning, provides services like water and sewer, and collects certain taxes on that land. Townships can lose residents, tax revenue, and control over their own future.
Ohio law allows for several different types of annexation. The two types that HB 829 targets are called Expedited Type 2 and Expedited Type 3 annexations. These are sometimes called “fast track” annexations because they move quickly through the legal process and require very little review.
The “Fast Track” Problem
An Expedited Type 2 annexation is one of the most common ways cities grab land today. All the property owners within the area being proposed for annexation simply sign a petition — and as long as a few basic conditions are met, the annexation is approved. The county commissioners essentially have no power to stop it, the township has no meaningful veto, and there is no real public hearing or appeal process.
This came into sharp focus in 2024, when the City of Huber Heights used a Type 2 expedited annexation to absorb nearly 300 acres of land from Bethel Township in Miami County. Bethel Township residents and officials felt helpless. The township objected, but under current law, that objection carried little weight. The annexation went through anyway.
An Expedited Type 3 annexation works similarly but is designed for large economic development projects — like industrial parks or distribution centers — where a developer needs to get land annexed quickly to attract investment.
What HB 829 Would Do
HB 829 changes the rules. Under the bill, if a township files a formal objection to a Type 2 or Type 3 expedited annexation, the board of county commissioners must enter a resolution denying the annexation — full stop. The township’s voice would no longer be just a formality. It would have real power.
The bill also extends the timelines for these proceedings, giving all parties more time to respond. Currently, some decisions must be made in as few as 25 days. HB 829 pushes those windows out to 60 or even 80 days, allowing for more careful review.
Part of a Bigger Picture
HB 829 does not stand alone. It is introduced alongside House Bill 113, sponsored by Representatives Adam Bird and Johnathan Newman — including our own local representative, Johnathan Newman from Troy. HB 113 is the broader reform package, one that would give county commissioners the power to veto annexations they believe are not in the public’s best interest, reduce the maximum size of an expedited annexation from 500 to 200 acres, and require cities to share a larger portion of their border with the land they want to annex.
Together, HB 829 and HB 113 represent the most serious attempt to reform Ohio’s annexation laws in years — and for communities like Bethel Township, that kind of reform cannot come soon enough.
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