RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) ó A committee is trying to respond to citizen complaints about how North Carolina cities and towns can acquire unincorporated areas.

The panel of legislators, municipal leaders and the public is slated to meet Thursday to recommend changes to the full Legislature about involuntary annexation laws.

Grass-roots groups and citizens attending committee public hearings are unhappy with how some towns and cities have annexed land. They want lawmakers to require municipalities to provide promised services more quickly and give them more say over whether annexations happen.

The panel isn’t likely to give voters the right to block involuntary annexations through referenda. The N.C. League of Municipalities is opposed to that idea but has proposed other changes.