Chattanooga surrounds the St Elmo #2 political district of Hamilton County, Tennessee, which forms non-contiguous county island boundaries (some as small as an individual parcel). Chattanooga does not actively pursue annexation of this area as past attempts have resulted in significant landowner resistance; however, Chattanooga does allow individual landowners to voluntarily join their jurisdiction in exchange for access to city trash and police service; most residential homeowners do not consider this worth the additional 40% property tax burden. Voluntary annexation is usually initiated by business owners within the county, one reason being to lower insurance premiums for certain commercial activities.
