Polaris Technologies has filed a lawsuit against the City of Muskogee to stop the annexation. The company is asking for an injunction to invalidate the annexation ordinance and stop the city from enforcing it.
KRMG reported earlier this month that Polaris condemned the Muskogee City Council’s vote to proceed with annexation of its privately owned property. According to Polaris, the vote for annexation is a ‘bait-and-switch’ tactic on behalf of the city.
“When Polaris invested $100 million in Muskogee, the American company did so based on good-faith agreements with former city and county leadership,” said Polaris Technologies spokesperson Dan Chepkauskas earlier this month. “For the current council to reverse course and threaten its operations with a $15 million annual tax hike jeopardizes the very future of this company and the livelihoods of 200 Muskogee employees. This decision breaks trust, not just with Polaris, but with the business community at large. But this is not the end of the fight. Polaris remains committed to negotiating in good faith, and we urge city leaders to do the same before the final vote on July 28.”
Polaris Technologies has filed a lawsuit against the City of Muskogee to stop the annexation. The company is asking for an injunction to invalidate the annexation ordinance and stop the city from enforcing it.
On July 28, the Muskogee City Council voted to proceed with the annexation of the John T. Griffin Industrial Park, where Polaris is located.
“The city has extended municipal utilities and formally annex continuous parcels through the required statutory process. Each action has complied with Oklahoma law, including planning and zoning reviews, public notice, hearings, and final counsel approval,” said Muskogee Mayor Patrick Cale on Monday.
The City of Muskogee voted to approve the annexation and are keeping a three percent franchise tax which will cost Polaris an additional $5 million per year.
Polaris claims it never received a copy of notice of annexation through the mail, therefore the City of Muskogee failed to uphold state law.
Polaris cited Oklahoma law, which states, “before any territory is annexed to a municipality, without the written consent of the owners of at least a majority of the cares to be annexed to the municipality…the governing body of the municipality shall direct that notice of the proposed annexation of the territory be published on a legally qualified newspaper of general circulation in the territory and shall hold a public hearing on the proposed annexation…A copy of the notice of annexation shall be mailed by first-class mail to all owners of property to be annexed as shown by the current year’s ownership rolls in the office of the county treasurer…provided that the notice of annexation shall be mailed…to every person who owns parcel of land of five acres or more used for agricultural purposes and to the board of county commissioners of the respective county where the proposed annexation is located.”
Polaris, according to the legal document, requested the court declare the annexation void and invalid, therefore denying Muskogee the right to enforce the annex.
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