A Case for Changing SC's Annexation Laws

[Spartan]

Good article. It definitely highlights the problems we are seeing accross the state. This quote highlights my (and probably many UP member's) biggest gripe about what our annexation means. This problem is not unique to Orangeburg.

[Captain Worley]

I certainly see the point of the people who don't want to be annexed. I bet many of them already have water and sewer, so annexation won't get them much, and they don't see much benefit from being part of the city. Forcing them into the city by referendum is only going to make them mad, and, IMO, make the government of O-berg look uncaring and heavy handed.

I'm always leary of "I'm from the government. We'll make your life better."

[davidals]

A good article - both sides of the issue in SC are well-explained, as are other aspects of the debate, like what it costs a city (vs what the city might gain) to annex.

How easy is municipal incorporation in SC? Just wondering, based on the relationship between incorporations and annexation in NC.

I think a strategy SC could investigate would be linking the two - make both processes easier, with a streamlining qualification: also encourage annexation agreements between incorporated municipalities.

This is not as clumsy as it sounds - to ward off annexations, several NC cities (Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Burlington, Asheville, much of W Union County all spring to mind) have seen several suburban areas at their periphery incorporate. The primary cities have a right to protest such incorporations, and the legislature would take it into consideration before approving or rejecting the incorporation petition, but thus far most of these incorporations (1 in Buncombe, with 2 more pending; 6 in Guilford, 4 in Forsyth, 4 in Alamance) have drawn only approval from the primary city, which have managed to annex and haven't been walled in by newly-created non-cities. Such a strategy could make the idea of easier annexation much more palatable to suburbanites in SC - they have the out of incorporation: either way certain things will be required, or it's null and void.

In NC this is partially held together with the use of agreements - several counties have them, and the state encourages them. If you move into an area, you know from the start that you are eventually going to be annexed by a specific municipality, so future annexations aren't a sneak attack - the communication is there from the outset if you take it upon yourself to do the research. Mecklenburg and Wake have used them effectively, and there haven't been any new municipal incorporation attempts in either county since the agreements went into place.

[Spartan]

Incorporation at this point is actually a little easier than annexation, if done correctly.

You are talking about Extended Territorial Jurisdicitons (ETJ). Those would be an ideal way to fix things in this state. The only place where annexation arguements have occured recently are in Charleston County. Some minor ones in Richland/Lexington and Spartanburg Counties. What you suggest may indeed cut down on the number of paper towns, which would be a good thing.

The issue is not what to annex, but how and where. In Orangeburg's case (along with hundreds of other municipalities in the state) these property owners agreed to be annexed at some time in the past, and now that the city is calling up that agreement, they are protesting. If SC had annexation laws designed more like NC's, our cities would be in a better place in most regards. But they aren't. A denator from Spartanburg has proposed legislation that would change the laws to be more similar to NC's, but I doubt it will make it out of committee.

The other problem facing urban places in SC is the presence of special purpose districts (SPD). Because cities can't annex (or chose not to), something had to be done to provide urban services to unincorporated districts outside of the municipalities. Thus the SPD was born. These are districts that act exactly like towns, only they are not. You vote for the leader of each district. Some can tax. They frequently overlap. They provide fire services, water, sewer, etc. Each district usually only provides one service but sometimes they provide more than one. Its really a frustrating situation because there is not incentive to request annexation. Greenville and Spartanburg are most notably pinned in by these SPDs. The other problem is that annexation is not viewed from a city's perspective. SC is extremely pro-property rights in most regards, so the laws are set up now to where its the property owner's decision whether or not he will annex unless certain other conditions are met (the 75% rule).

[davidals]

Ok - I'm just tossing out ideas. But the thing, which you've explained, is the SPD - I'm approaching this from a 'logic' standpoint, and SPDs strike me as being this ludicrous thing - it's not a city, it's not the county, it's not the state, it's just this thing that - beneath the veneer of providing 1 specific service - is an inefficent or wasteful thing invented to hold various other kinds of legal entities at arms' length. It seems to me that - if they overlap - they could end up eating up as much money as they generate, with duplication of services and all. Which should be far more of an irritant to the body politic than annexation - given the possibility of waste, do they actually save anyone any money?

Ahh...politics. Worldover, we're all still feudalists at heart I guess.

Edited May 2, 2007 by davidals

[Spartan]

Exactly. I couldn't have said it better myself.

[erm1981]

^^^Yeah its real messed up around year when it comes to these "special purpose districts". I think the primary city should benefit before the other cities in the region. Greer and Mauldin are walling Greenville in so by the time any new laws are passed there will not be anywhere to grow but near taylors but greer will probably have that by then.

[vicupstate]

I certainly see the point of the people who don't want to be annexed. I bet many of them already have water and sewer, so annexation won't get them much, and they don't see much benefit from being part of the city. Forcing them into the city by referendum is only going to make them mad, and, IMO, make the government of O-berg look uncaring and heavy handed.

I'm always leary of "I'm from the government. We'll make your life better."

They would get LOWER water and sewer rates, and most likely lower Homeowner's Insurance. They would receive garbage pick up that many pay a private entity to provide. The dollars and cents difference in total is usually small and often in the resident's favor.

The irrational and cynical distrust of government is indeed the motivation for people staying outside a city, even when it is not to their advantage to do so.

[Captain Worley]

They would get LOWER water and sewer rates, and most likely lower Homeowner's Insurance. They would receive garbage pick up that many pay a private entity to provide. The dollars and cents difference in total is usually small and often in the resident's favor.

The irrational and cynical distrust of government is indeed the motivation for people staying outside a city, even when it is not to their advantage to do so.

If they already have well and septic, there is no benefit. Lots of times (my parents for instance) the county provides garbage, so again, no benefit. The insurance rate adjustments are negligible.

As for irrational distrust...I've seen from within how it works, fed and state.

I live in a town, so I don't really have a dog in that fight, but my parents live out in Lower Richland, and they, along with many neighbors, would see no changes except higher taxes if annexed. I completely understand people who fight annexation tooth and nail.

I see both sides, and encourage evryone to do the same, instead of just passing judgement without knowing all aspects.

Edited May 4, 2007 by Captain Worley

[Greenville]

The irrational and cynical distrust of government is indeed the motivation for people staying outside a city, even when it is not to their advantage to do so.

What has the government done to warrant 100% trust from its citizens? From my vantage point, not much.

[TheSuperPope]

^^ its that kind of thought that creates disunity among a peole, whether it be nationally, state, or city level. I say that the people of SC need to wake up and start to trust the people that they put into office.

Except for, of course, Mcconnell and his cronies, they need to be removed from government; hell, they probably need to be removed from society in general in my opinion.

[vicupstate]

What has the government done to warrant 100% trust from its citizens? From my vantage point, not much.

What has the government done to warrant 100% distrust from its citizens?

I don't know who you think is responsible for most of the progress we see in this state, but I assure you it isn't the Governor, and it sure as hell isn't those morons in the legislature. Without the cities and to some degree counties, in this state, we wouldn't be progressing at all.

As for trusting the government 100%, I NEVER stated that, and I for one certainly do not. I place no trust whatsoever in our President or his Vice-President. See my comments above my perspective on the state level.

Despite those feelings, I still judge all elected officials and their actions/initiatives based on their character and merit.

[Captain Worley]

I say that the people of SC need to wake up and start to trust the people that they put into office.

Trust must be earned. They haven't earned it yet, so I keep a wary eye on government action. I view a lot of annexation activity as nothing more than a land/money grab. Sometimes there are benefits for the people being annexed, but I feel that is secondary consideration to what the cities want.

[krazeeboi]

Either way, you're either going to be under some form of government, whether it's the city or the county. You can't get away from it, annexation or not. When you are annexed, the city is obligated to extend services to you, so many times the city wins and the homeowner wins. Charleston has actually made it cheaper to be in the city than to be in the county.

[GvilleSC]

Mauldin just annexed 347 homes. That should be a pretty sizable population boost to the city. I pull for Mauldin in their annexation efforts in hope that if Greenville ever combines with them, that it will be that much bigger of a boost for the city.

Mauldin annexes 347 homes

[teshadoh]

^ You don't seriously think Mauldin will be incorporated into Greenville do you? It's really really really unlikely. Unbelievably unlikely. Greenville's best chance for expanding is to aggressively expand into the southwestern sections of the county before it is built out. Otherwise, Greenville lost an opportunity by not annexing east of the city before Wade Hampton developed.

[Spartan]

I have to agree with teshadoh on this. Municipal mergers are extremely rare, and in a healthily growing area like Mauldin its even less likely. The only instance of a municipality merging with a primary city in SC that I am aware of is Eau Claire merging with Columbia. There was also the instance where three smaller towns merged to create North Myrtle Beach, but that isnt the same scenario.

[teshadoh]

^ And Ebenezer merging with Rock Hill in the 1960's. Actually, in the early days of the suburb in the late 1800's & early 1900's, it was rather common for suburban communities to become incorporated by the primary city. As they were commuter or streetcar suburbs, they provided fewer services than the major city & most often these municipalities lasted very shortly before they volunteered to join the larger city.

[GvilleSC]

I don't think it's so far-fetched, but only time will tell. Speaking to a Councilman from Mauldin he said that it would make most sense for both cities and I have to agree. What does Mauldin really have to lose? Its identity that doesn't exist? It's one of the fastest growing areas of the Greenville area, but gaining more and more residents won't sustain the city for long.

[erm1981]

^^^It would be good but it might be a while before anything like that happens. mauldin and greenville are virtually growing their borders right up against each other so it does make a little sense. ICAR and the point are almost right between the two cities. Does sound interesting just chatting about it.

Edited May 14, 2007 by erm1981

[teshadoh]

I don't think it's so far-fetched, but only time will tell. Speaking to a Councilman from Mauldin he said that it would make most sense for both cities and I have to agree. What does Mauldin really have to lose? Its identity that doesn't exist? It's one of the fastest growing areas of the Greenville area, but gaining more and more residents won't sustain the city for long.

The reason why a modern suburb will not join a primary city is complex. I am not stating these examples as the defacto reasons why it is unlikely to occur in SC or any state in the country - but here they are:

Racism

Anti-tax

Anti-"big city"

Income exclusiveness

Loss of community identity

[krazeeboi]

^And Bi-Lo.

[knightrider162]

I truly wish that N. Charleston would join Charleston. Just imagine the things that could happen should that occur. N. Charlestons formation is one of the biggest mistakes of the City of Charleston and the metro might have ended up being more regionally prominent right now if it did not happen.

[krazeeboi]

I'd like to see N. Charleston clean up some its own messes first; otherwise, it would be like Charleston inheriting a half-dilapidated house to fix up.

[Charleston native]

I truly wish that N. Charleston would join Charleston. Just imagine the things that could happen should that occur. N. Charlestons formation is one of the biggest mistakes of the City of Charleston and the metro might have ended up being more regionally prominent right now if it did not happen.

Absolutely knight! The city of Chas is still hurting from the bungling of relations with people in the north area over 30 years ago. While krazee makes a good point about the north city being a big mess for Chas to inherit, I think that the determination of city leadership and police could accomplish the task of transforming the north side into a much more pleasant suburb of Chas. There are many new residents in the north area as well who also want to change the image of their section of the city. It can be done, but it will take complete commitment to the transformation.

Chas would indeed become more of an complete urban city than it currently is today if those cities merged!