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Citizens residing in one of South Carolina’s few pristine coastal regions have reached a critical stage in their bid to incorporate a new town – part of an ongoing effort to escape what they view as oppressive land use policies implemented by their county government.
Proponents of the municipal incorporation of the lower Waccamaw Neck region of Georgetown County are driven by a desire to protect their homes and businesses from county-wide land use policies that foster continued increases in population and visitor traffic – increases they fear could turn the area into Myrtle Beach.
The Waccamaw Neck area is among the most scenic regions of the Palmetto State – home to Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, Huntington Beach State Park and the Hobcaw Barony.
“We are already experiencing unprecedented traffic, flooding, and over-development, and it seems to get worse by the day,” said Andy Hallock, chairman of the study group which organized to explore the incorporation idea. “Thousands of citizens of the lower neck have decided we do not want to become Myrtle Beach South, and we are ready to move forward to save our community.”
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The first objective of the Pawleys-Litchfield Municipal Study Group was to find out if there was sufficient community support to pursue such an initiative. Hallock said the support is there – and the group is moving on to the next phase, which involves determining what kind of tax structure would be necessary for the proposed municipality to provide essential services currently provided by the county.
How the municipality is funded – and at what cost to taxpayers – is likely to be the make-it-or-break-it factor for any successful incorporation.
There have been several prior attempts to incorporate parts of Georgetown County – including the incorporation of Pawleys Island. However, the most recent initiative to incorporate Lower Waccamaw Neck in 2019 failed to capture the support of voters.
While concerns over aging infrastructure and vulnerability to natural disasters present challenging obstacles to incorporation, the biggest potential impediment – based on comments from residents – appears to be the idea that a substantial tax increase would inevitably follow.
The incorporation petition requires three-year budget and revenue projections – fiscal estimates which go to the very heart of the tax questions residents will ultimately decide with their votes. Creating a new municipality in Georgetown County would also mean the revenue structure of the county would change. The newly formed municipality would collect tax revenue to fund certain operations – whereas the county would no longer be receiving those funds (nor bearing the responsibility of providing certain services to the municipality’s population).
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Plans for the municipality must include essential services like fire and police protection. If the municipality no longer depends on the county for these services, it could free up county resources – or reduce the budget necessary to provide those services.
Another option would be for the municipality to forge an agreement with the county for some of the services – in which case the municipality would likely contribute tax revenues to help pay for them.
FITSNews reached out to Georgetown County’s administrator for their perspective on how the incorporation could impact county revenues and services, but so far we have yet to hear back.
Assuming that changes, we’ll let our readers know…
In order to complete phase two of the planning for a proposed municipality, study group leaders are looking to the public to help raise the money needed – an estimated $50,000 for professional guidance to prepare the petition and funds for neighborhood outreach to engage the impacted public.
“To date, the study group’s message has reached thousands of citizens using digital methods which do not involve significant expense,” Hallock said, “Although we have reached a tremendous number of people this way, we have not reached everyone.”
Information about the study group and its fundraising efforts can be found on the group’s Facebook page.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Callie Lyons is a journalist, researcher and author. Her 2007 book ‘Stain-Resistant, Nonstick, Waterproof and Lethal’ was the first to cover forever chemicals and their impact on communities – a story later told in the movie ‘Dark Waters.’ Her investigative work has been featured in media outlets, publications, and documentaries all over the world. Lyons also appears in ‘Citizen Sleuth’ – a 2023 documentary exploring the genre of true crime.
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1 comment
It’s impossible to form a new municipality and bring about desired change without the ability to levy municipal taxes. ACT 388 is still in play in SC which requires a multiplier formula based on the current tax rate. If the current rate is 0 no matter what you multiply, it still =s 0. The Town of Pelzer has been trying to levy taxes for years but ACT 388 prohibits the levy of any municipal tax since they have never had a municipal tax.