Edisto Beach looks at annexation into a different County

[vicupstate 259]

It is amazing to me that it is easier for an area to suceed from one county to another, than it is for a city to annex under the petition method.

Needless to say, for Edisto Beach to become part of Beaufort or Jasper County is ridiculous. I doubt this will go far, but you never know. It seems unlikely that taxes would be cheaper in Charleston County.

BTW, any word on Union or Cherokee Counties efforts to consolidate with their respective county seats?

Edisto Beach may suceed again

[krazeeboi 121]

Edisto Beach might as well secede to Georgia. Sheesh!

The Cherokee county consolidation issue comes up on the November ballot there.

[Jerseyman4 0]

I cant even believe this is legal to do this but whatever floats Edisto Beach's boat.

[Spartan 914]

It is amazing to me that it is easier for an area to suceed from one county to another, than it is for a city to annex under the petition method.

Needless to say, for Edisto Beach to become part of Beaufort or Jasper County is ridiculous. I doubt this will go far, but you never know. It seems unlikely that taxes would be cheaper in Charleston County.

BTW, any word on Union or Cherokee Counties efforts to consolidate with their respective county seats?

Edisto Beach may suceed again

I don't think that its easier to seceed. It requires a great deal of effort on the community's part. For Edisto Beach to become a part of jasper is rediculous. I could see Beaufort. But really, how well do they expect that to go? I don't think any county can avoid rasing their taxes. I would rather see Edisto go back to Charleston personally.

I think Union and Cherokee are both on the ballot for November.

[vicupstate 259]

I don't think that its easier to seceed. It requires a great deal of effort on the community's part. For Edisto Beach to become a part of jasper is rediculous. I could see Beaufort. But really, how well do they expect that to go? I don't think any county can avoid rasing their taxes. I would rather see Edisto go back to Charleston personally.

I think Union and Cherokee are both on the ballot for November.

Glad to hear about Cherokee and Union. Keep us posted on that!

I disagree about suceeding being more difficult. By using the petition method, annexation into a city requires 75% approval from the owners of 75% of the assessed value. To annex to a different county requires a 66% approval of those affected and a simple majority in the accepting county. I have never known a county not to accept an annexation (after all, what's to lose by doing so), so that part is easy. So it basically comes down to 66% with no valuation requirement vs. 75% with an identical valuation requirement.

[Spartan 914]

But secession requires a year to approve and you have to pay people to sit on a commitee to review the process (which may or may not happen).

[vicupstate 259]

The pay is only $25 a day. Getting people to chip in one time to pay for an election (that may result in a tax cut thereafter) is easier than getting 75% of a group of people to raise their taxes permanently.

[Charleston native 0]

This points out to what I've been saying about SC's layout of government...it still operates with a "county" mentality rather than a "city" mentality. This is probably due to the rural history of the state government.

I hope Edisto secedes back to Charleston. Geographically, it wouldn't make any sense to go to the other counties.

[Spartan 914]

^Its due to the fact that historically, cities and counties were a direct arm of the state house. The Home Rule Act of 1974 changed the system to allow cities and counties the atonomy we have today. We're talking 30 years since that took effect.... Thats not very long at all sompared to most places.

[aviationguy 0]

As a person who lived on Edisto Beach for many years, I would like to put my two cents worth in. I can't even begin to tell you how many people I watched die while they waited the hour it took for an ambulance to get to the beach. I can't tell you how many accidents would happen in summer when the droves of tourists were in town on vacation - water skiing accidents, jellyfish stings, near drownings, jet ski accidents - you name it. The ambulance was in Walterboro, 55 miles away. I lost members of my own family because there was no medical help nearby. I watched a house burn to the ground because the fire truck was an hour away. I rode a school bus two hours each way to get to school in Walterboro. The only public school I could attend.

It's easy to knock a place and make it out to be a bunch of rich, whining people wanting special treatment, but that's not the experience I have. Just having the basics would have made Edisto a better place. Most of the homes on Edisto were empty. They were owned by people in other cities and states and rented out year round to tourists. There were never all that many residents and most of them were not rich. We weren't rich.

I just want to say that a tiny town paying massive taxes to a city an hour away that wouldn't provide adequate medical, fire or police protection, among other things, is a problem that has needed to be fixed for a long, long time. Someone go down there and talk to the guy who used to carry people to the hospital himself in his personal car. Go talk to the people who tried to put out a house fire with buckets of water and hoses because there was no fire truck. Go find some of the tourists who lost a family member because there was no ambulance. For a county that gets so much of their revenue from tourists in a small beach community, they never were very concerned about the safety of those same tourists. Talk to the parents who had to fight tooth and nail to have a school bus sent out to Edisto to take their kids to the schools their taxes helped pay for. Walterboro is the greedy town. Edisto has taken a back seat for so many years and is only recently getting any attention whatsoever. The true story of Edisto Beach is one for the movies. It's almost unbelievable....

[Spartan 914]

Interesting perspective. Definiately one you wont get from the paper. Do you think Charleston County could and would provide better service?

Welcome to the forum, by the way

[krazeeboi 121]

Thanks for providing a firsthand perspective aviationguy, and welcome to the forum.

[Jerseyman4 0]

Thanks for sharing all of that! I always knew Edisto Beach was distant from everything (similar to Kiawah and Seabrook) but i would never have imagined to something to this extreme in regards to basic necessities!