Annexation prompt concerns for water funding

LA PORTE, Ind. - A dispute over water takes a legal turn.

On Thursday, the City of La Porte claimed 39 North Conservancy District residents will need to be part of the city in order to receive the water. 

On Friday, the attorney for "Citizens Against Annexation," Christian Matozzo, questioned whether annexation would actually address any financial challenges. 

"What is annexation?" questioned Matozzo. "Annexation means we have the money you weren't giving you have the services. And since we're already given you the services, we're just going to step in and pay for it."

The City countered that there is money for infrastructure improvements and that they're not using water access as a means to force annexation. 

Nick Otis, attorney for the City of La Porte, stated that the "Citizens Against Annexation's" claim of the city threatening to turn off their water is wrong. 

"We're fulfilling the terms of our contractual obligation with 39," said Otis. "We're providing water until our contract expires in 2025."

The City believes they've come up with a fair resolution to give property owners utility credits.

If approved the annexation could go into effect by early next year.