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In response to the May 13th Oregon Court of Appeals decision requiring Philomath and Corvallis to annex certain properties, the respective city councils voted this month to not pursue a further appeal. As reported in a previous HBA newsletter, the Court’s ruling upholds Oregon’s 2016 Senate Bill 1573, which preempts local charters and requires cities to review and approve certain petitions without subjecting them to an election. The Philomath City Council voted earlier this month 6-1 to forego $20,00 - $40,000 in estimated supreme court appeal expenses in light of Covid-19 and other budgetary pressures. As part of the vote, the city is sending its annexation code to the planning commission for review. After reviewing a staff report, Corvallis voted unanimously this week to forego further appeal opportunities, and discussed the potential to raise home rule issues in the future. Importantly, these decisions will likely impact Oregon City’s decision to refer all annexations to a vote of the people while awaiting the appellate court ruling on the topic. According to senior city staff, the Oregon City Commission will continue its discussion on the topic this summer. To learn more about HBA involvement in Oregon City, contact Roseann Johnson at roseannj@hbapdx.org.