With growing population, city to update annexation policy

Martin Kidston

(Missoula Current) Aided by a federal grant, the Missoula City Council on Monday night adopted an agreement with a planning firm to help update the city's aging annexation policy.

The $150,000 contract, awarded to TischlerBise and Houseal Lavigne, is expected to poise the city to adopt an updated policy by the end of 2026 or early the following spring.

Ben Brewer, the city's planning supervisor, said Missoula's population within the planning area now stands at 93,000 people. It's expected to reach 128,000 by 2045.

That and the city's recent adoption of a new Land Use Plan and the Unified Development Code now require an updated annexation policy, Brewer said.

“It's time for the city to update its annexation policy to modernize our approach to growth management in this urban area,” he said. “This will ultimately inform the annexation policy update.”

The city adopted its current policy in 2019 to promote efficient growth and sustainable use of resources. The new policy will also consider the fiscal impacts of annexation and the city's capacity to provide services to the area.

In all but a handful of cases, the city has historically relied upon citizen petitions when annexing. The last time the city annexed an area without a petition was in 2018 when it annexed the Missoula Development Park, according to city officials.

“The decision to annex is a decision of City Council,” said council member Mike Nugent. “This policy gives guidance to council. In recent history, annexation has primarily been driven by citizen-initiated requests and subdivisions.”