By Jesse Wood
June 20, 2014. The Boone Town Council discussed the legislation that is advancing through the N.C. General Assembly and would eliminate the town’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ).
Proposed by Sen. Dan Soucek, Senate Bill 865 has already moved through the N.C. Senate and has passed its first reading in the N.C. House. The bill is currently calendared for the N.C. House Committee on Government, which next meets at 5 p.m. on Monday, Mayor Andy Ball said last night.
On Thursday night, Ball encouraged residents to contact members of the N.C. General Assembly, particularly those in the N.C. House Committee on Government and the House Speaker Thom Tillis’ office, to “register their objections” on this bill.
Ball added that if it passes the committee on Monday, it could go to the floor “maybe next week.”
Ball noted that the N.C. League of Municipalities, which opposes this legislation, notes that 187 communities across the state exercise its ETJ powers on a regular basis.
“Why Boone? What is Boone doing different to deserve [this legislation]?” Ball asked. “I would hate for it to be a normal reason, which is politics.”
For more on this issue and Soucek’s reasoning, read a prior article on this issue.