A state House committee voted Tuesday to leave a provision that allows for a public referendum in a proposed involuntary annexation reform bill.

The bill was sent to the House Appropriations Committee last week after lawmakers voted to postpone a final vote on the legislation. The committee was instructed to determine how much some of the changes the bill proposes would cost to implement.

The motion to send the bill back to the Appropriations Committee passed 60-59 on July 8, with Speaker Joe Hackney breaking the tie. Hackney's district includes a one and a half precincts in Moore County.

The bill is now expected to return to the House floor for a vote. It is unknown when that will occur.

The bill gives residents affected by involuntary annexation the opportunity to vote on the issue if they can convince 15 percent of registered voters within the municipality and the territory that is to be annexed to sign a petition. While opponents of involuntary annexations consider a vote of utmost importance, they argue that the 15 percent threshold would be difficult to achieve in most cases.

The committee voted against a motion to remove the vote provision from the bill Tuesday.

Contact John Krahnert III at 693-2473 or by e-mail at jkrahnert@thepilot.com.