The City shall be a Home Rule City, with full power of local self-government, including the right to amend this Charter, as provided by the Constitution and laws of this State. It shall have and may exercise all the powers granted to the cities by the Constitution or laws of Texas including specifically those powers made available to cities of more than 5,000 inhabitants by what is known as the Home Rule Amendment to the Constitution of Texas (Article XI, Section 5) and the Home Rule Enabling Act (Chapter 13, Title 28 of the Revised Civil Statutes of the State of Texas, 1925), as now or hereafter amended. The City may acquire property within or outside its corporate limits for any municipal purpose; may cooperate with the government of Texas or any agency thereof, or with the federal government or any agency thereof, or with the government of any county, city or political subdivision to accomplish any lawful purpose for the advancement of the health, morals, safety, convenience or welfare of the City or its inhabitants; may sell, lease, mortgage, hold, manage and control such property as its interest may require; provided the City shall not sell, convey, lease, mortgage, or otherwise alienate any public utility without prior approval by the qualified voters of the City; and may exercise the power of eminent domain when necessary or desirable to carry out any of the powers conferred upon it by this Charter or the Constitution or laws of Texas. The enumeration of particular powers in this Charter shall not be held or deemed exclusive, but in addition to the powers enumerated herein, implied thereby or appropriate to the exercise thereof, the City shall have and may exercise all other powers which under the Constitution and general laws of this State it would be competent for this Charter to specifically enumerate.
The City shall have the full power and right to exercise the power of eminent domain when necessary or desirable to carry out any of the powers conferred upon it by this Charter or by the Constitution and laws of the State of Texas. The City may exercise the power of eminent domain in any manner authorized or permitted by the Constitution and laws of this state. The power of eminent domain hereby conferred shall include the right of the City to take the fee in land so condemned and such power and authority shall include the right to condemn public property for such purposes. The City shall have and possess the power of condemnation, for any municipal or public purposes even though not specifically enumerated in this Charter.
A. 
The City Council shall have power by ordinance to fix the boundary limits of the City of Cuero; and to provide for the alteration, and extension, of said boundary limits, the detachment of territory, and the annexation of additional territory lying adjacent to the City, with or without the consent of the territory and inhabitants annexed or detached. Before the City may institute annexation or detachment proceedings, the City Council shall provide an opportunity for all interested persons to be heard at a public hearing to be held not more than twenty (20) days nor less than ten (10) days prior to institution of such proceedings. Notice of such hearings shall be published in a newspaper having general circulation in the City and in the territory proposed to be annexed or detached. The notice shall be published at least once in such newspaper not more then twenty (20) days nor less than ten (10) days prior to the hearing. However, amendments not affecting the boundary limits set forth in the proposed ordinance may be incorporated into the proposed ordinance without the necessity of republication of said notice. Annexation or detachment of territory by the City shall be brought to completion within ninety (90) days of the date on which the City Council institutes annexation or detachment proceedings or be null and void. Provided, however, any period of time during which the City is restrained or enjoined from annexing or detaching any such territory by a court of competent jurisdiction shall not be computed in such ninety (90) days limitation period. Upon final passage of any such ordinance, the corporate limits of the City shall thereafter include (exclude) the territory so annexed (detached); and when any additional territory has been so annexed, the same shall be a part of the City of Cuero, and the inhabitants thereof shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges of all citizens, and shall be bound by the acts and ordinances, resolutions and regulations of the City. Upon the final adoption of any ordinance detaching territory from the City, the corporate limits of the City shall be reduced by the territory so detached, but said territory shall still be liable for its prorata share of any debts incurred while said area was a part of said City, and the City shall continue to levy, assess and collect taxes on the property within said territory to pay the indebtedness incurred while said area was a part of the City as though the same had not been excluded from the boundaries of the City.
B. 
ANNEXATION BY ANY OTHER METHOD PROVIDED BY LAW.
Additional territory may also be annexed to the City in any manner and by any procedure that may now be provided by law or that may be hereafter provided by law. Same shall be in addition to the methods herein above provided.
C. 
EXTENSION OF MUNICIPAL UTILITIES.
The City shall within three (3) years of the effective date of such annexation provide or cause to be provided such area with governmental and proprietary services, the standard and scope of which are substantially equivalent to the standard and scope of governmental and proprietary services furnished by the City in other areas of the City which have characteristics of topography, patterns of land utilization, and population density similar to that of the particular area annexed. Should the City fail to extend or provide for extension within three (3) years, the owners of the annexed territory may petition Council to de-annex the territory. If the Council fails to act on said petition within three (3) months of the date of filing the owners may then resort to suit in district court to require de-annexation.
The City shall have the power to appropriate funds for the purpose of advertising and promoting the City of Cuero in order to attract tourists, commerce, and industry and thereby improve the City and benefit its inhabitants.
A. 
The City Council, when necessary or as otherwise provided by any federal, state or local law, shall establish new boundaries for districts covering the entire City for the election of District Council Members. Such boundaries shall be established by ordinance.
B. 
Following the addition of territory to the City by a boundary change, the City Council by ordinance, shall add such territory to an adjacent district or districts by ordinance.
C. 
The City Council shall regularly conduct an investigation and determine the population of the City and the population of the districts from which the District Council Members are elected. Each such determination shall be based upon the best available data, including, but not limited to, the most recent federal census. Each such determination shall be expressed in an ordinance. After any such determination, if the distribution of population among the various districts is determined by the City Council to be materially unbalanced, then the City Council shall establish new boundaries for districts covering the City for the purpose of electing District Council Members.