Not necessarily, Kasson has requests today from landowners to annex 400 acres. Many are farmers seeing no economic benefit in keeping the Ag life style and see an opportunity to develop their land. Orderly annexation agreements between cities and townships are a means to plan how fast to allow growth and in what direction. Annexations are normally triggered by property owners and typically not by cities. It is an opportunity for cities to expand and provide municipal services.
Townships do see the loss of tax base.
If at some point a property is totally surrounded, it could be annexed anyway, however, although some people are concerned about eminent domain, the cities in Dodge County are not interested in land grabbing. It was emphasized that the expansion areas shown are concepts, possibly larger than needed because some owners may want to annex and others may not. Jensen referred to an Executive Summary and individual handouts prepared for each city area. The Housing Committee has representatives from all Dodge County communities. Jensen said similar conditions exist in Olmsted, Rice, Goodhue, and Winona Counties.