GUO Decides to Not Appeal Annexation Decision

Geist United Opposition (GUO) announced today that, after due and careful consideration of its legal options and opportunities, and in consultation with its attorney, it will not pursue an appeal of Judge Nation’s December 31, 2008 ruling allowing annexation of the Geist area by the Town of Fishers.

“This was a difficult decision to come to,” said Pete Peterson, President of the GUO. “But, in light of the legal climate in the state of Indiana that seems to favor cities and towns, and the ongoing cost of litigation we, the GUO, have decided not to proceed with an appeal.”

Since November, 2005 the GUO has coordinated and led the efforts of Geist area property owners fighting forced annexation by the Fishers Town Council. These efforts culminated in a trial before Hamilton Count Superior Court Judge Steven Nation on November 24 – 26, 2008. On December 31, 2008 Judge Nation issued a ruling and ordered the annexation to proceed—finding in favor of the Town.

The remonstrators have until February 2, 2009 to file an appeal of Judge Nation’s ruling.

“Judge Nation’s ruling was a complete disappointment,” said Mike Fisher, homeowner and member of the GUO board. “We thought our attorney did an excellent job presenting our case. But, given the outcome of this and other related trials the result of an appeal is far from certain, and will be expensive to pursue. As such, moving forward with an appeal is not a viable option for the GUO. Other remonstrators, however, can pursue the appeal if they want to.”

Reportedly, the Town spend over $1.2 million dollars pursuing the annexation prior to trial; whereas, the homeowners spent about $150,000—money raised solely through donations.

“While we did not win in court,” continued Peterson, “this has still been a big win for the homeowners in Geist. We undertook this effort to stop from being forced to pay higher taxes to a town we didn’t want to be part of. We held them off since November 2005 saving each Geist homeowner thousands of dollars of additional property taxes—literally millions of dollars of excess taxes for the whole area.

“And, thanks to a provision of state law that prevents an annexation in the year prior to a decennial census, we can’t be annexed until 2010 so we won’t pay property taxes to Fishers until 2011. This just happens to coincide with the full implementation of the 1% state property tax cap.”

Meanwhile, the GUO likely will reorganize to become involved in Town and community activities and watch-dog the annexation process.

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