A Case for Changing SC's Annexation Laws

[Spartan]

If you look at the map posted with that article you can clearly see what they are trying to fix. I think its a good move. It will allow them to provide services more efficiently. Its funny to read the comments for that one. People flip out over such trivial things.

[CorgiMatt]

Should we be worried that our anti-city General Assembly will do something to block Columbia's efforts? Or should we expect it to get tied up in court for years before the SC Supreme Court rules in Columbia's favor?

[Spartan]

I'm pretty sure its legal. The City makes property owners sign a contract stating that they will agree to be annexed at some point in order to get get water service. Greer does this all the time, and I know other cities have a similar arrangement.

[krazeeboi]

Re the article with the guy who's totally surrounded by the city but isn't in the city, I'd think that slightly higher taxes is worth it given that it would dispel confusion about who shows up at his house in the case of an emergency. I'm not exactly sure how Charleston does it, but it seems as if it's cheaper to be in the city down there than to be just in the county.

[sonofaque86]

Columbia city residents must pay:

City and county property taxes: $730

Water and sewer bill: $34.96 per month

Storm water fee: $4.80 per month

Richland County residents pay:

Property tax (includes recreation commission, fire service, etc.): $590

Water and sewer bill: $60.70 per month

Garbage service fee: $249 curb pickup

So City of Columbia is: $769.76

And Richland County is: $899.7

Is it me, or is it cheaper to live in the city limits on a $100,000 home based on this information?

[Spartan]

Where does your property tax info come from? What is it based on?

[MZT]

NC's more lenient city expansion brings it's own problems. My mother worked for a city planning department in N.C. and had stories to tell me about developers walking with with subdivision plans, egging the city to extend services there. Sometimes it didn't make much sense for the city financially to be leapfrogging, but they'd do it because the city council felt that it's important to "keep growing".

Maintaining that extended infrastructure results in higher taxes a few decades down the road, but the builders "made theirs" and are outta the picture. Sometimes the city would mandate that the builders construct more of the initial infrastructure, but of course it's always minimum possible spec, and does not last as long - so the improvements needed get borne by future tax payers too.

There probably should be some middle ground between NC and SC's approaches to annexation.

Edited October 25, 2008 by MZT

[krazeeboi]

^This is true. Perhaps density of surrounding areas coupled with a lowering of the permission threshold by residents could represent middle ground. That and making it easier to annex donut holes.

[CorgiMatt]

James Island has won its court case. It has been decided that it has the right to exist as a town.

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2008/no...ourt_case62200/

[Spartan]

This quote says it all:

The decision means the town will be able to keep operating as it has been, overseeing functions like code enforcement and zoning. Most basic government services in the town are provided by the separate James Island Public Service District, just as they were before the town was formed, and police protection continues to be provided by the Charleston County Sheriff.

As you can see, the town admits that it exists for no reason except for zoning and code enforcement. Basically, since the island is mostly built out, the Town's only purpose is to tell people to cut their grass. But only the parts of the island that are within the town limits.

Here's a map of Charleston's City Limits in orange. The Town of James Island is approximately everything in white. I would love it if someone could tell me how having an incorporated municipality like this makes any sense. Its an inefficient arrangement. You can literally have a situation where you live in the Town and both of your neighbors live in the City. The worst part about it is that once this happens, the situation will not change if this town is allowed to exist.

Hopefully the SC Supreme Court will see things the right way.

[krazeeboi]

I call it municipal welfare.

I also hope the state supreme court has the good sense to strike this ruling down.

[breed]

IF SC's annexation laws were a little more city-friendly, then this kind of funky Greer-esque municipal boundary wouldn't be possible.

[Spartan]

More importantly it wouldn't be necessary. I know we've debated Greer's style of annexation before, and I've refined my thoughts on that issue. What irks me about it is that its the only way they can annex, which forces them to do it haphazardly. I want cities in SC to annex, but I want all of them to be able to do it in a way that makes sense. Greer is fortunate to have set itself up to require annexation for sewer service.

James Island won't be able to annex anything because its completely surrounded by Charleston. I'd like to see how the neighborhood associations work down there when you neighbors may or may not be in the same town as you. I predict that land values in James Island will suffer in the long run because of this.

[Spartan]

Very often in this thread and others throughout the South Carolina forum, when the topic of annexation laws comes up, we refer to North Carolina's laws as the "gold standard". Now, it appears that the NC involuntary annexation laws may change. Based on this article from the Charlotte Observer, there is enough controversy surrounding the issue that it will likely be discussed in the NC Legislature this year.

This is solely a North Carolina issue, but I mention it here because they use many of the arguments that are used here in South Carolina for and against stronger annexation laws. The article also cites South Carolina's laws as reasons in favor of having stronger annexation laws. Here's a quote:

Not being able to absorb border development can burden a city. Such is the case in Greenville, S.C., a city of about 56,000 in a county of 425,000. Greenville is the economic engine of the county. Its amenities determine the quality of life for people living in the region, but the city can't tax many who benefit from what it provides.

Greenville is definitely our best case as to why cities should be able to annex. I agree with those who say we have to be careful with that argument because Greenville has been able to make the best of the situation, which is in part due to its status as an economic center.

The article poses the argument quite well. I suggest reading it and thinking about how annexation laws impact NC cities, then think about how those same arguments might impact South Carolina's cities.

[krazeeboi]

SC and NC seem to represent the "extremes" in the case of annexation (although it might be argued that annexation in some Northern states is even much harder than in SC). What about states like Georgia and Tennessee? With the exception of Atlanta, their major cities seem to have municipal populations that more accurately reflect the true size of those cities. City-county consolidation also seems to be easier in those states.

Although NC's laws are considered the "gold standard" as Spartan mentioned, we know affording cities that much flexibility is not happening any time soon in SC. What's frustrating is that there doesn't appear to be any progress in this regard at all, not even minimal progress. Look at the proposal to give cities the power to annex "donut holes"; that's not a major proposal, yet it just stalls in the Legislature year after year after year. I hate to say it, but don't expect any progress to be made when it comes to annexation--and a lot of other things, for that matter--until certain key politicians die, or get voted out of office which is very unlikely barring any type of scandal.

I also thought it was interesting that right after mentioning neighboring states, the article said "Richmond, VA" but just "Columbia" without the "S.C." after it.

[vicupstate]

Charleston pushes annexation in West Ashley

This article details the lengths to which Charleston goes to pursue annexation. As you can read, it is quite proactive, and reasonably successful.

[Spartan]

It really helps when you can show your tax rate is reduced by joining the city. Charleston's targeted annexation website is very well done, and really hits home the point about the benefits of being in the city. I wish more cities in SC were this proactive.

[krazeeboi]

PSD's are such a waste.

[Spartan]

I have a theory about PSD's in that they actually cause you to pay more taxes and you have less accountability, but because of the way they are set up the general citizenry does not realize it. Most people don't understand PSD's unless you have worked for one... and even then you might not be 100% clear on everything. So kudos to you if you understand

[krazeeboi]

Columbia has given residents of "donut holes" who are not part of the city an ultimatum: join the city or lose your water service.

[CorgiMatt]

We discussed this a while back. It remains to be seen whether the city is going to stick with what it said or wuss out.

[Spartan]

This is a good attempt. I hope they are successful, though I wonder if anyone would hold out and the city actually go through with cutting water service. It helps that "in February, the state Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the city of Greenville when the city denied water service to a shopping mall because the owner did not want to petition the city for annexation."

Its ironic how South Carolina's politicians bitch and moan about governmental inefficiencies to the point that they decide how much budget increases a local government can have, but refuse to do anything about one of the most glaring inefficiencies at the local level.

[Spartan]

Along those lines, Spartanburg is trying to "force" annexation in two parts of town, both of which are being challenged. Spartanburg retains some sewer service rights, though the city doesn't directly control it any more (its really complicated), but it comes down to the city playing that card and seeing what happens. Basically, instead of annexing in the past, the residents signed a form stating that they would agree to be annexed at some point in the future, and the City is treating that as the 75% voluntary annexation and then annexing the other 25% forcefully.

One goal is to have the boundaries expanded by January 1st so that when the Census forms are sent out, the population count will be higher, thus preventing any significant decreases in state funding allocations, which are based on percentage of the total population.

[krazeeboi]

One goal is to have the boundaries expanded by January 1st so that when the Census forms are sent out, the population count will be higher, thus preventing any significant decreases in state funding allocations, which are based on percentage of the total population.

I suspect that's what's behind Columbia's push to get those "donut hole" residents into the city as well.

[krazeeboi]

So far, it looks like Columbia's push to get these donut holes annexed is working to a certain extent. The latest city council agenda has 17 requests for annexation from such residents. That's definitely a higher-than-normal number.