De-Annexation Parcel 1
1. NLWA was empowered by unanimous vote of our members at our 2022 annual meeting to assist the democratic process of de-annexing from the City of Meridian a 4.4 square mile portion of our certificated service area known as Parcel One that was annexed by the City in 2008.
2. There are many reasons for seeking de-annexation, but chief among these is the city levying a 32% increase in property taxes on our 563 member households and businesses in Parcel One for the past 16 years without investing a penny to install the sewerage, drainage, water lines, and hydrants promised in the Annexation ordinance and to the MS Supreme Court in the annexation hearings. The 1,700 people who live in Parcel One have paid more than $11 million to the City of Meridian over this period. Parcel One tax payers may calculate the additional taxes imposed upon them by the City of Meridian using this Tax Calculator. This burden has only gotten worse with the recent 18% tax increase.
3. Crime has skyrocketed since annexation. The area was previously well-patroled by the Town of Marion PD and Lauderdale County Sheriff, but the city took jurisdiction and displaced them. At the same time, the city allowed the number of uniformed officers in the Meridian Police Department to drop from 99 in 2009 to approximately 40 today. Vehicle thefts and break-ins have become common. The two patrol cars that the City can staff in the evenings are rarely seen north of North Hills Blvd, which itself has become a high-crime zone. Meridian had 55 shooting victims and 14 murders in 2024; that's a shooting a week and murder a month. We would welcome a return of Marion PD and Lauderdale County Sheriff patrols in place of rarely seen Meridian PD patrols.
4. If your home address is on this Address List, your residence is within Parcel One and was annexed. Everyone in your household who is eligible to vote may sign this petition. We need 2/3rd of all eligible voters who reside in Parcel One to sign in order to proceed to legal action.
5. You may sign the master petition in person at the NLWA office, or you may print and complete this Petition Form and deliver it by hand or mail it to our office. You may also photograph it and text it to 601-917-4766 or email it to parcel1@nlwa.ms. The PPIN number is for our tracking purposes and you do not have to provide it. But, we do need you to fill in your address, printed name(s), and signature(s).
6. This De-Annexation Fact Sheet details all the promises the City of Merdian has broken. We have already done considerable preparation to make our legal case . There is a legal path in state law for full de-annexation, as well as for us to form our own utility district governed by our own elected board to provide services we are not getting from City or County. In court, we can also fight for a refund of back taxes. Unless we make our case before a judge, Meridian will coast along for the next 16 years as it has the past 16 years, collecting our taxes to spend on its problems downtown without regard for its responsibilities up here.
7. The NLWA point of contact for this petition and the de-annexation effort is:
North Lauderdale Water Association
Attn: President Todd "Ike" Kiefer
9709 Mount Carmel Road parcel1@nlwa.ms
Bailey MS 39320 https://nlwa.ms/index.cfm/parcel1/
721 signatures collected as of 10 July 2025. Properties highlighted with number of petition signers.
We still need signatures from residents of the properties highlighted in white below -- particularly
EAGLE POINTE and BRIARWOOD ESTATES
[Click on image below for live map]
