HORN LAKE, Miss.– A Horn Lake, Mississippi man is fighting to no longer be part of the city.
He wants his home, off Church Road, de-annexed.
He says the city isn’t living up to the promises made when his was annexed into the city in 2002.
Now he’s speaking up and says he’s willing to go to court.
He lives on a lush, green 13-acre piece of property that’s fitted with a pond for 34 years.
If Robert Baker had it his way, this property wouldn’t be part of Horn Lake. He wants to rewind to more than 16 years when he was living in what was just considered DeSoto County.
“None of us around here wanted to be annexed,” said Baker.
He says he’s sick of shelling out city taxes, which he claims are increasing, and he’s not getting anything in return.
“That’s all it amounts to,” Baker said.
Baker says when his property was initially annexed, the city was given five years to complete the process.
In his petition to de-annex he wrote there was to be police and fire protection, upgraded water systems and adequate disposal and treatment of sewage.
“They have not done a thing for me, period,” Baker said.
He says right now he has a two-inch water line at his home.
“There’s no way they can keep us in the city with the 2-inch waterline outside of my house, because I can’t even put a fire truck on it.”
The problem is The Days Water Association, a private corporation, owns the waterline at Baker’s home, not the city. So the city says there’s not much they can do there.
However, Baker isn’t giving up.
He went to a Horn Lake Board of Alderman meeting Tuesday night and tried to pursue his plan, but nothing was decided.
Baker hopes his push to de-annex will inspire others living nearby, as he continues his fight.
“I’m goin back to that next meeting in Horn Lake, and I’ll tell them just the way it is. If they don’t let me out then we’re going to court in Hernando. We’re not going to give up.”
WREG spoke with Horn Lake’s mayor.
He says Baker is an honest, tax paying citizen who has the right to make his request.
He did say the board of alderman ultimately would not make the decision of de-annexation, that would be up to chancery court.
