It is unlikely that bills introduced by Rep. Thayer Rivers, D-Ridgeland, and Senators Clementa Pinckney, D-Ridgeland, and Scott Richardson, R-Hilton Head Island, will make it through the S.C. General Assembly this year since this late in the session it takes a two-thirds majority vote for passage.
The bills are designed to bring sanity to the rampant annexations that have taken place and continue throughout the Lowcountry, especially in Beaufort County.
A bill co-sponsored by the senators last month would allow 30 additional days for residents to comment on a proposed annexation, extending the period to 60 days. That is a feel-good measure only. It makes little sense to extend the comment period for 30 days if those listening are merely going through the motions and will do what they please in the end. The most important aspect of the bill is that it would broaden the scope of individuals or groups with standing to challenge the legality of an annexation.
Rivers introduced a bill in the House in March that would rein in the ability of municipalities in some instances to use roads and rivers as annexation vehicles, but it wouldn't totally prohibit such annexation.
The Municipal Association of South Carolina opposes Rivers' bill. Executive Director Howard Duvall said a municipality can't grow if it can't cross a road. But the director has supported previous legislation similar to Rivers' that prevented municipalities from traveling several miles down a road to grab a few acres of prime property.
If lawmakers really want to provide useful annexation rules, they should require municipalities to provide an impact statement that shows the benefit and costs to not only municipal residents but to county and state residents as well. The statement should include short-term and long-term costs, and it should require the municipality to pay for this infrastructure, if they haven't acted in good faith with state and county government and the school district.
Researchers at the Strom Thurmond Institute at Clemson University provided a cost analysis for the county in relation to the proposed annexation of 5,000 acres of land by Beaufort, and it is staggeringly large.
While the lawmakers have some good ideas, they need to add some teeth to the legislation.