Brian Hicks rarely gives James Island his attention, but when he does, his stories are mostly fiction. This time he went so far as to lard up his prose with snippets from Shakespeare. Plainly he longs for the days of yore, when the previous Mayor of the Town devoted so much time hurling colorful insults at the previous Mayor of the City--with occasional barbs shot back. In the Hick's fantasy world, nothing has changed.
The Post and Courier never bothers to send reporters to the meetings of the James Island Intergovernmental Council, where Mayor Tecklenburg and I work together to solve Island problems. I had to chuckle when he claimed that a lack of cooperation is the source of drainage problems on James Island. Really? Is there a Town of West Ashley? Why then the flooding disasters in Shadowmoss? The City is solely responsible for the peninsula. Have downtown flooding problems disappeared? Drainage is a problem because of Lowcountry geography. I feel lucky that the worst problems have been outside the Town. Still, I am committed to improving drainage on James Island and the Town has budgeted over $200,000 for drainage projects next year. Every month staff from SCDOT, the Town, the County, and the City meet to coordinate stormwater operations on the Island. Soon we will be announcing an Island-wide drainage study, paid for by the Town, County, and City.
Admittedly, the James Island Public Service District is sometimes out of step with the new spirit of intergovernmental cooperation. The key problem with their finances is that property tax is their sole source of revenue for fire protection and solid waste collection. Municipalities are authorized to levy property tax, but they have many other sources of revenue. The solution is for the PSD to allow the Town to help. The Town can use its other sources of revenue to purchase services from the PSD on behalf of its residents in exchange for property tax relief. I hope the PSD Commissioners will finally agree to work with the Town rather than continuing their policy of an ever increasing property tax burden.
Unfortunately, many of residents of the PSD remain in the unincorporated area. They still must pay for their services entirely by property tax. We in the Town would be happy to have them back, but under current annexation law, they have no opportunity to vote to rejoin the Town. Representative Peter McCoy filed HB 3669 to solve that problem. It is my understanding that progress in the South Carolina Senate is being held up because a majority of PSD Commissioners don't want to give their voters a choice.
Commissioners Wilder, Hollingsworth, Kernodle, and Brown Crouch are all up for election in November. I am sure Island voters will want to know where they stand.
The notion that the Town is too small to efficiently operate is a bit of a reach. Of the 16 municipalities in Charleston County, 12 are smaller. Of the 271 municipalities in South Carolina, 238 are smaller. Is bigger always more efficient and better? That must be why taxes are so low and services so efficient in Chicago and New York City. While growth might bring more revenue, costs can skyrocket when it comes time to actually deliver services. I think the City of Charleston is finally learning that lesson.
The Town provides code enforcement, building inspections, funds our Island Sheriff Patrol, paves roads, builds sidewalks, provides parks and has its own planning director, planning commission and board of zoning appeals. These last are very important. In the areas of James Island annexed by the City, zoning and planning decisions are made by commissions, boards and a council which have very few members from James Island. The City is poised to amend the Folly Road Overlay to allow for a large multi-family development on Folly Road over the objections of the one member of City Council from James Island. That could never happen in the Town.
Would it be better if the Town and the PSD were joined? Perhaps. But that is a decision for the people of James Island. As long as James Islanders work together, we will do just fine.
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