Should NE Richland become a separate city?

[Woodlands]

One poster mentioned that he lives in the NE and is covered by Palmetto Utilities. I not sure of the service/coverage area of Palmetto Utilities or their solvency. But if the City really wanted to step up its conquest of the NE, they could (and maybe already are) use water/sewer as the trojan horse. Water Rates, connection fees, availablity of service to new development, could all be used as carrots to coerce residents and development projects into the City. After all in this scenario the City has the best of both worlds when it comes to the NE....you have to use their water/sewer if you are on their system.. and if you get mad at the Mayor because of the quality of the service or the rates, you can't vote him out because you don't live in the City. If Palmetto Utility (if it is privately owned and/or the County does not get it first) was acquired by the City, then that would definately be the start. Fort Jackson, which is in the City Limits, spans all the way along Percival Rd almost to HWY 601. That has given the City a foothold to come across into the NE and begin picking off subdivisions. I would not be surprised if the City of Columbia had a full time person and a war room for just annexations and the strategy behind them...because they do take alot of efforts not only dealing with those who want to come into the City but to try to convince other who don't want to come in to come in particuliarly if their property in the path of or part of high tax baseor heavily populated areas. The State Law and petitions also make it a time consuming process.

In Kershaw County, I believe the only municipal government close to the NE is the Town of Elgin, which may indirectly over time, benefit from the expansion of the NE. Lugoff had pursued incorporation at one time and the area that would have been included in its proposed boundaries would have made it equal or larger than Camden, the County Seat. That effort I believe was also thwarted by local residents of the proposed town.

[Chi2Midlands]

Woodlands - From a bit of Googling, I believe at one time portions of NE Richland were covered by the City of Columbia sewer system, but were transferred to Palmetto Utilities (formerly Wildewood Utilities) because of the area's belonging to the Rice Creek/Wateree watershed:

Work Session Minutes

Most of the rest of Columbia is on the Broad/Saluda/Congaree watershed, which makes utility management a bit challenging. While I would have hoped the City showed more leadership and maintain sewer service in NE Richland, at the time perhaps it made sense to them to let someone else take care of an otherwise "fringe" watershed. Now, of course, with development booming in line stretching from Blythewood to Lugoff, it may be difficult to put the genie back in the bottle.

This disconnect between watersheds, municipal boundaries, and utilites has also been a political football as Kershaw County has moved its water planning from a stand-alone relationship with the Central Midlands Council of Governments to its otherwise "home" council of Santee-Lynches (which covers other areas like Sumter, Manning, and Bishopville). This has caused concern in Richland County because now sewer and water planning in NE Richland could be decided from "outside" the region.

This is another failure of local authorities failing to think and cooperate regionally in a meaningful manner. Folks have got to get out of the comfort zones of their local commissions and boards and realize that regional growth will mean, on some level, regional coordination. I live closer to Elgin and Blythewood than I do to downtown Columbia, and that means I am pulled between the centers of gravity of differing cities, utilities, and other municipal services.

Woodlands - what you are describing is basically the Columbus, Ohio method of annexation, which is very aggressive and almost Texas-like because the state of Ohio allows it (it also has other interesting state laws like automatically designating any municipality a "City" when it reaches 5,000 people, forcing those municipalities to act somewhat responsibility in terms of municipal service - no more "Mayberry" excuses of governance). Columbus says: "ok, you want city water - fine, we get to annex you". As such, their tax base has engulfed much of the suburban and even exurban edges of the metro area. While Columbus does have its problems (they do have some declining inner-city areas), its leverage in terms of utilities and services has been a healthy stabilizing factor. Suburban/exurban residents don't seem to be up in arms over this, and one thing that keeps these annexation deals going is that suburban school district boundaries are untouched - they are still largely based on smaller township boundaries as most of the Midwest is. In fact, in the Columbus area they say it's a great deal if you can buy a house in a good suburban school district but within Columbus city limits - you get cheaper city services but quality public education - the best of both worlds. There are a few exceptions to the utility/annexation rule in Columbus (there are some suburban areas outside city limits but with city utilities - but there are negotiated agreements covering these arrangements).

I simply am not optimistic any sort of rational coordination, let alone consolidation, will happen any time soon. I feel Columbia's water system is not meaningful connected with city council governance - I don't see city leaders talking about annexation/municipal services other than cherry picking a few high-dollar tax bases. They seem interested in raiding suburban revenue sources rather than building a bigger, more cohesive city.

[Woodlands]

Chi2Midlands-THanks for that information it does indeed seem like a complicated mix of politics and "turf". The Midlands should do a better job in working together across city, towns, service areas and counties.. I do think things have gotten better over the years though there is always room for improvement. I remember as the NE was developing, developers were saying "escape the high taxes of Columbia" in addition to touting the community amenities and shopping. Now Kershaw County is marketing itself as escaping the high taxes and "congestion" of NE Columbia for the more laid back lifestyle of Kershaw. I am sure Newberry County will do the same someday, if they have not already.

[waccamatt]

Originally Posted by Woodlands

Chi2Midlands-THanks for that information it does indeed seem like a complicated mix of politics and "turf". The Midlands should do a better job in working together across city, towns, service areas and counties.. I do think things have gotten better over the years though there is always room for improvement. I remember as the NE was developing, developers were saying "escape the high taxes of Columbia" in addition to touting the community amenities and shopping. Now Kershaw County is marketing itself as escaping the high taxes and "congestion" of NE Columbia for the more laid back lifestyle of Kershaw. I am sure Newberry County will do the same someday, if they have not already.

That's funny, isn't it? I live inside the city limits and only pay a little over $700 a year in real estate taxes on a 2200 square foot home. Car taxes are probably a few dollars higher than in unincorporated areas, too, but I probably save the difference in gas cost in a week.

[Woodlands]

Originally Posted by waccamatt

That's funny, isn't it? I live inside the city limits and only pay a little over $700 a year in real estate taxes on a 2200 square foot home. Car taxes are probably a few dollars higher than in unincorporated areas, too, but I probably save the difference in gas cost in a week.

2200 sq. ft. and intown and $700 per year in taxex is not bad at all. If $3.40 per gallon is the new norm for gas prices... I wonder what that will do for development trends? Either more people may join you in the City or businesses/employers are going to have to move further out in order to find employees because many may not want to commute and/or certainly not wanting to fork over significant portion of it to get to work. Howevever in the age of telecommuting and flexible work weeks.. we may just find new ways to get to work or redefine what offices hours are. Columbia may not have to worry about this anytime soon but some of the larger metros are definately going to have to rethink how they do business.