[00:00:11] Speaker A: Hi, I'm Jackie Broach and this is first Friday with Georgetown county. With us today is Holly Richardson, who is our director of planning and zoning. I think you probably have a better title than that. What's your actual title?
[00:00:23] Speaker B: Director of planning and coding. So we're pretty close.
[00:00:26] Speaker A: Okay, so Holly is going to talk with us today about the new land use element of the comprehensive plan. And if you don't know what that is, it's because it all is pretty complex if you are not a professional planner. So Holly is going to explain it to us today.
[00:00:42] Speaker B: Sure, I'll be glad to. The comprehensive plan is a document that's required by the state that every county and city has to have that implements zoning in their jurisdiction. There are multiple elements to the plan. In this case, we are focusing on the land use element, piece of the plan, and it's basically a document, a guide and a roadmap for future development in Georgetown county for the next ten years. We have to do one every ten years. We do an update every five years. So this plan lays out what the future of Georgetown county is going to look like in ten years.
[00:01:13] Speaker A: And this is actually take two of the land use element, right?
[00:01:18] Speaker B: Yes. We did start this process a few years ago. We had a public meeting and some of the comments we received were that we had not done enough public input up front. We kind of took a step back. We worked on some of the other elements in our plan, like cultural resources, housing, transportation, and started some kind of building blocks to get us prepped for the land use element. And we hired a consultant to help us. We did a good amount of public input meetings. We had several open houses throughout the county. We did a brown bag virtual meeting online. So we've really tried to push this out to the county and to all sections of the county to get as wide an amount of input as we could this go round.
[00:02:00] Speaker A: Okay, so what is different about this version of the land use element?
[00:02:05] Speaker B: I think, number one, the amount of public input that we've done. Number two, this land use element really looks at different segments of the county with different eyes. We all know how diverse Georgetown county is. We range from the more urban section of the Waucoma Neck, to our rural sections, to farms, to timber tracks. And each section has a different vision for their area. So while the land use element has an overall vision statement, it also looks at the different segments of Georgetown county, five different areas, and it describes different place types for them, different goals and strategies to address the different sections of our county. Where before I think we've had a one size. We've tried to have a one size fits all approach, and that really just doesn't work for Georgetown county.
[00:02:43] Speaker A: Yeah, so last night we had a public listening session where people could kind of get a look at the new plan if they had not already reviewed it online and give some feedback. But that was not the only opportunity for public input if they missed that meeting. So tell us about how people can still have a say and give their opinions on the new plan.
[00:03:05] Speaker B: Sure. We are continually taking written public comment at
[email protected] you can always send your comments that way. A lot of times if people have more they want to say, then they can fit into the allotted time frame for a public hearing. That's the best way to do it. Sometimes people want to kind of think and gather their thoughts. It's a pretty large document. I think it's about 50 pages, so you may want to express yourself more fully. You can certainly email us that way. We've been taking those comments along and probably total have gotten maybe 50 submitted that way. There will also be an official public hearing. The planning commission will do another meeting about this and we'll schedule that date, probably sometime in late March. We'll certainly push that out when we know that date. Exactly. So there'll be another opportunity to speak to them. And then, of course, council, as required by the law, holds the official public hearing before they give a final vote on the document. This document gets recommended by the planning commission, and then council has to approve it with three readings.
[00:04:02] Speaker A: Okay, now tell me about the comprehensive plan update overall, how are we progressing with that?
[00:04:08] Speaker B: Sure, we've made a lot of progress in the past. I would say two years. We've approved so far the cultural resources element, the housing element, transportation, economic development, community facilities and resiliency. And then, of course, land uses in progress. We also have a population element that talks. It's basically numbers from the census, and it talks about our population projections for the next ten years that will be on planning commission's agenda for their march meeting for a public hearing and a vote. That leaves the priority investment element left and that completes the ones that are required by the state. Georgetown county also has a beachfront management plan that we make a part of our comprehensive plan, and public works is currently working with a consultant on that one. So that will be the final piece, and we are hoping to tie this up by the end of this fiscal year.
[00:04:57] Speaker A: Wonderful for anybody who doesn't know the end of the fiscal year for Georgetown county is June 30, correct? So that is great news. Is there anything else you can think of to tell us about the comp plan?
[00:05:06] Speaker B: I don't think though, just that we are very excited to finally roll this out. It's something we've been working on a long time. I'm really proud of the document and I hope everyone will take a look at it and let us know what you think about it.
[00:05:16] Speaker A: Okay, wonderful. Holly, thank you so much for joining us. You can find all of the comprehensive plan drafts and the approved elements at comp plan. You can also find a link to give public input, upcoming meetings, and more information in general about the comprehensive plan at that link. Holly, thanks so much.
[00:05:38] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:05:39] Speaker A: Our next guest is Brandon Ellis, our emergency services director. Since he probably won't tell you himself, I will go ahead and mention that he was just named South Carolina's emergency management director of the year. So congratulations, Brandon.
March is severe weather awareness week in South Carolina, so Brandon is going to talk with us a little about severe weather awareness.
[00:06:03] Speaker C: Thanks, Jackie. Yeah. March is really the kickoff to the severe weather season in South Carolina. So we want to ensure that everyone is prepared. They know what to do should severe weather strike in Georgetown county and that you have a plan in place for you and your family and even your business if we experience severe weather here.
[00:06:19] Speaker A: So tell us about some of the types of severe weather. We're probably most familiar with hurricanes because coastal town, but there's lots of other things that we should be concerned about as well.
[00:06:29] Speaker C: Absolutely. Georgetown county is susceptible to a wide range of different hazards from a severe weather perspective. We have lightning, we have thunderstorms, we have wind, we have tornadoes, we have flooding. So all of those are different hazards that we face that fall into the category of severe weather, and we must be prepared for those at any time.
[00:06:49] Speaker A: Okay, so tell us about some of the ways that we can go about getting prepared.
[00:06:52] Speaker C: So, first off, we want to ensure that we have a plan in place, that we're prepared, that we're ready should an emergency happen or disaster strike. You want to communicate that plan with your family, your friends, your loved ones, and also have an emergency preparedness kit handy so that you have the supplies necessary. Should we experience long term power outages or other issues associated with severe weather that could really put you in a bind and limit your access to supplies.
[00:07:19] Speaker A: Okay. I know that there are some neat little slogans out there to help us remember some of the safety tips. I know when thunder roars, go indoors, turn around, don't drown for flooding.
[00:07:32] Speaker C: Right. Yeah. There's lots of slogans out there, and throughout next week, we'll be doing a lot of social media interactions, so we'll have a lot of those slogans floating around with some handy graphics that kind of illustrate how folks can take those preparations seriously and also have fun with them at the same time.
Ducking under a desk for tornado warnings or like you said, turn around, don't drown, don't drive through floodwaters. We preach that quite often. And thunder roars. Go indoors, obviously, if there's kind of like, where there's smoke, there's fire, where there's thunder, there's lightning. And we want to ensure that people try to mitigate their exposure to those hazards once it's identified.
[00:08:16] Speaker A: Yeah, it was just two or three years ago, I think, that we actually had a person die from a lightning strike. I think they were in a river, took shelter under a tree, which, of course, you should not do. And tragedy occurred.
[00:08:29] Speaker C: Right? Yeah, it does happen. It does. And we're not immune to it here in Georgetown county, obviously, especially from a boating perspective, during the summer, we ask folks to pay especially attention to weather conditions, changing weather conditions, because the weather here is very dynamic. It'll change on a whim. And that day, unfortunately, we did have someone get struck by lightning and we lost that individual. So it's really important have good situational awareness during severe weather events when there's a threat of severe weather and have a plan in place so that you can take the necessary actions to ensure your safety.
[00:09:06] Speaker A: And of course, we've got a little ways to go before summer, but I swear it seems like every summer just gets hotter and hotter, so heat becomes an increasing threat for us. That's also a form of severe weather.
[00:09:17] Speaker C: It is.
We do have some hot summers here along the coast of South Carolina and a lot of folks either work outside or they recreate outside. And in doing so, you want to ensure that you're wearing light color clothing, hydrating appropriately, drinking water, not drinking sodas and things that are going to dehydrate you and just taking breaks, finding shade and not really suscepting yourself to those elements if you can help it at all.
[00:09:45] Speaker A: Okay. Now, are there any events or training type exercises, safety exercises that people can take part in during severe weather awareness?
[00:09:54] Speaker C: Actually, yes. There is an opportunity.
On next Wednesday, the statewide tornado drill will take place and folks will receive alerts over NOA weather radio. And it'll be an opportunity for folks to practice their tornado safety activities both at home work and at school.
[00:10:13] Speaker A: Okay. And you mentioned getting under a desk. That's what we did a long, long time ago when I was in elementary school. Is that still the prescribed method for tornado safety?
[00:10:23] Speaker C: It's one of the ways that you can protect yourself. We really encourage folks to go to an interior room with no windows on the lowest level of your home.
Fortunately, in South Carolina, we don't have a lot of basements. So usually that's an interior closet, a bathroom, something of that nature. In our home, it's a little room that's located under the stairs. It's the most interior room in our house. So if you don't have those areas identified currently, we encourage you to go through your home, your workplace, identify areas of safe haven, and make sure that you know where those are should a tornado threaten.
[00:10:59] Speaker A: So what if I am outside or driving down the road in my car?
[00:11:03] Speaker C: If you're in your car, you want to stay in your car at all possible. If you're outside, you want to find a low area, such as a ditch or something like that to get into kind of as low as you can get away from. The ground level is where you want to be, the lower the better whenever it comes tornadoes.
[00:11:22] Speaker A: Okay, great.
Anything else you can think to tell us about severe weather awareness week? We will definitely check in with your social media accounts during the week for more information.
[00:11:31] Speaker C: But for now, for now, no.
As with any of our hazards, please just take the time to prepare now so that you're not in a situation later where you wish you would have.
[00:11:42] Speaker A: Okay, so we did very briefly mention hurricanes, and I know that there is some new information coming out this year about evacuation zones. We'll obviously get into that a lot more as we approach hurricane season. But do you want to go over that a little bit for us now so we can just be prepared and have an idea?
[00:11:59] Speaker C: Yeah, sure. I'll give a brief update. So we've worked very diligently with the South Carolina Emergency Management Division, our other coastal counties along South Carolina, and we're revising the hurricane evacuation study that's going to allow us to take a look at the decision making dynamics that we use to issue evacuations and execute evacuations in South Carolina. One of the big things you're going to see in that update are revised hurricane evacuation zones. So we've updated those hurricane evacuation zones based off of risk and not so much absolute worst case scenario, but worst case, most reasonable scenario. So what is the most reasonable worst case scenario that we could see and plan for that? It's actually going to adjust some of our zones. Some zones will shrink, some zones will increase. Some areas will be removed from hurricane evacuation zones. But it's an effort to make our evacuating process more efficient, more effective, using tools such as new mapping software, new mapping data that we have from our partners, as well as real world experience from recent events. What is most practical? What do we need to do to evacuate the appropriate population, but not over evacuate an unnecessary population who might currently fall in a zone? So we'll be pushing out a lot of information on that moving into April, April and May. We'll have public meetings in various locations to kind of outline this for the public, explain it. There'll be updated hurricane evacuation guides going out. We're in the process now of beginning to update our evacuation signage. As you know, all public roadways in Georgetown county that are in an evacuation zone, they are labeled with that alphanumeric code at the top and the appropriate color coded band around the top. So we're in the process of updating those and making those changes. So we're excited about the opportunity to take a deep dive into the analytical side of the evacuation process and make it more refined and make it better for us so that we can do a better job for the residents of Georgetown county.
[00:14:12] Speaker A: Okay, great. We look forward to hearing more about that as we draw closer to hurricane season. Brandon Ellis, our emergency services director and South Carolina Emergency management director of the year, thank you so much for your time.
[00:14:24] Speaker C: Thank you, Jackie.
[00:14:27] Speaker A: Our next guest is Walt Ackerman, our director of administrative services. Walt has also been lucky enough to be put in charge of the capital project sales tax initiative. That committee has done a lot of work recently, and one of the things that they have done is they have now created a process for submitting projects that you would like to see funded under the capital project sales tax if that were to be passed in referendum this November. Walt, would you like to tell us a little bit about that process and how you can have a project submitted?
[00:14:56] Speaker D: Yes. So folks that have a project idea in mind, they need to firstly determine who is going to be the ultimate owner of that project. And when I say owner, the governmental entity that will be responsible for implementing the project and maintaining it going forward for decades or centuries or however long to come, they will go to that entity and present their project idea. Those entities have the capability to come up with project estimates, annual O and M cost drawings, engineering, knowing what kind of right aways and easements they may need for these projects, all these different criteria that need to be included in a project submission, and then they have the ability to go onto our county website and submit that project.
[00:15:54] Speaker A: So as of yet, we haven't received any projects, but I know that there are some that are probably coming down the pipeline. Do you want to talk a little bit more about the types of projects that are being sought that will qualify for this type of funding?
[00:16:06] Speaker D: So the last few meetings have been more informational in nature. But one of the big topics and big things that the commission has been doing is coming up with, for lack of a better term, a scoring matrix. And this is a set of criteria that each project will be judged against, and each criteria is weighted differently. There's actually a copy of the latest draft of the scoring matrix on the county's website, if anybody wants to go and look at it. But the commission seems to favor projects that have health, safety, wellness benefits.
And of course, the more folks in the county that a project could touch, the better. If you got a project that only affects two houses versus one that affects 2000 houses, they would lean more towards the project that affects the most folks. So that's the big center is health, safety and wellness. But there are other needs that may be addressed as well. But I don't want that to preclude anyone from presenting their project idea, because that's not to say that the commission is only looking at those things, but that's kind of the message they're putting out is we see this to be the biggest benefit in the county. This is the kind of projects we'd really like to see people come up with. But if nobody comes up with those, then they'll be looking at other things as well.
[00:17:33] Speaker A: So I expect you probably are going to start seeing some projects come in soon. I know that there are several entities that are working on those. Tell us a little bit about the timeline. I think they're supposed to have the project recommendations to county council by the end of April. Is that right?
[00:17:46] Speaker D: No. Yes. Well, 1 May, I'm sorry, you threw me off a little bit. But the commission has required that project submissions be completed by April 1. That gives the commission the month of April to review all of the projects. And I'm quite sure they're all going to come in at one time.
So they'll be reviewing projects and formulating the list for the ballot question, because that's actually the ultimate responsibility of the commission, is to formulate the ballot question and deliver that question to county council. We have a May 1 deadline for that. Hopefully we might be able to squeeze a couple more days out. Just depends on how long in advance we have to get it on the May agenda for county council.
[00:18:32] Speaker A: Okay.
Now, in November, there will actually be two sales tax referendums on the ballot. I know that's probably going to be confusing for some people. It can be a little confusing for even us staff members who've been working on it. But the other one is a local option sales tax. And this is a mechanism basically for shifting some of the tax burden from county residents to people from out of town visitors and such. Speaking of our website, we do have a web page that is dedicated to these two sales taxes for more information. And one of the things that's on there is a calculator type tool. Will you talk a little bit about that?
[00:19:09] Speaker D: Yes. So, firstly, I want to make sure everyone is clear. The only two things in common between capital project sales tax and local option sales tax is the penny that would be collected. But the use of those two pennies is vastly different. Capital project sales tax is used for capital projects. Capital projects are think permanent items. Roads, bridges, water and sewer systems, drainage systems, things like that. The local option sales tax, and it's a horrible name for it. It doesn't describe it at all.
[00:19:41] Speaker A: The acronym is even worse.
[00:19:42] Speaker D: Yes.
Well, I guess you lose part of your property tax burden, I guess, is the way it comes out. But the local option sales tax is used to directly offset property taxes. So when we collect money, a certain percentage of that, the majority of that money is used to directly offset property taxes in the county, city, municipalities, wherever, fire districts, whatever. So on the website, on the local option sales tax page, because you all have done a good job and made a separate page for each, there's what I call, like you said, it's a calculator. So if you open that up, all you have to do is double click on that sheet and there's a little green box and you plug the value of your home in that green box.
[00:20:32] Speaker A: The assessed value of your home, correct?
[00:20:35] Speaker D: Yes. And most people don't know the difference. But if you just put the value of your home, because most people's market value is not very different from assessed value, that could change in 25, because reassessment is going to be a dinger in 25. But if you'll plug in that assessed value of your home, or the market value, if you don't know the assessed value and scroll down and find your tax district, you'll see what your savings would be on an estimated $10 million, which in my opinion, is very low.
$10 million is what we were collecting back in 2018, the economy has vastly changed since that point in time. We have a lot more tourists now. We have a lot more residents now. A lot of things have been different since 2018.
I would anticipate much more money, but we always want to be conservative in our estimation. So even if you look at a $200,000 home and on a $10 million annual collection, that's still $400 a year that each individual taxpayer would be saving.
[00:21:48] Speaker A: And it's not just homes. If you don't own property, you still achieve some savings. If you go to the bottom of that calculator tool, there is a tab for vehicles and one for boats.
[00:21:57] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:21:57] Speaker A: So you can save some money there as well.
[00:22:00] Speaker D: Yes. And if you own an airplane, you will also save money on airplanes. But we didn't do an airplane tab. But yes, you are correct. And so I think I've got some standard numbers already plugged in. When you pull it up, maybe it's 200,000, 40,000 on a car, 25 on a boat. So you can kind of see roughly how much you would save. But I think if you add all three together, it's probably in a neighborhood of 500 and $5600. And the key thing to remember, the great part about these sales taxes is somewhere around 35% to 40% of those taxes are collected from people who are traveling through our area, the residents of Georgetown county. Even though we're seeing the benefit of that offset property tax, we're not actually contributing the entire amount that offsets that property tax. So if you really want to get down in the weeds a little bit, to use nice round numbers, let's say that your calculation came up that you were going to save $500 in property taxes. What that means is if you spent $50,000 a year on taxable goods, now, this wouldn't include rent, gas, groceries, medications. And there's a whole host of other things that are not taxable.
[00:23:17] Speaker A: A lot of the things that we buy on a daily basis at our grocery store trip, they are not taxed.
[00:23:22] Speaker D: Almost nothing at the grocery store trip.
[00:23:25] Speaker A: Your vacation spending, shopping trips.
[00:23:28] Speaker D: That's right. So clothing, televisions, furniture, even if you look at vehicles, that's already capped at $500. So there's no additional tax on vehicles. And like I say, gas at the pump. You don't pay additional sales tax on that. It's already calculated in the price. So these would be some, and I won't call it luxury spending, but not nonessential spending. That's a good, is a good way to put it. But $50,000 to spend in a year is a lot on things that ain't gas and groceries. So for the average taxpayer, they're going to reap huge benefits from local option sales tax, just the way the calculation turns out.
[00:24:10] Speaker A: We talked a little before, you and me, about a lot of sales taxes are considered regressive, but that is not the case for this one, actually, and.
[00:24:19] Speaker D: That'S a good point. I've heard some folks talk about that. And these sales taxes, the way they're structured, are not regressive in nature. A lot of them are. But because things like gas, groceries, medications, and those staple items that people need to survive. If you are on the lower spectrum of income in Georgetown county, the bulk of your available funds is spent on rent, gas, your light bill, things like that. And there's no additional tax on that. So only the folks that have disposable income, a huge amount of disposable income, are going to see an increase in their out of pocket sales tax, which is then offset tremendously by the credit on the property tax. So it's a windfall for everyone involved.
[00:25:15] Speaker A: That's great news. I know that as the referendum, as election day nears, a lot of people are going to have more questions about these taxes. We will be putting out a lot more information as we get closer to November. And we are also organizing a speaker's bureau within the county. If you or your church, civic group, whatever, has questions and would like to schedule a presentation about either or both of the sales taxes that will be on the ballot, we would be happy to send somebody out to talk with you and answer any questions you have. The county does not have a position for or against the sales tax. We are information only. But if you would like to schedule that, you are welcome to reach out to me. My email address is on the screen right here. It is
[email protected] or you can find an email address to reach out to us on the capital Project sales tax pages. That web address is also on the screen here and you can find
[email protected] 2024 taxes.
Anything else we should mention, Walt?
[00:26:17] Speaker D: Well, I would just encourage everyone to go to those county web pages. There is a host of information, and if you have a project in mind for capital project sales tax, but you don't know which governmental entity to go to, there is an email link on that page and you can email us and say, hey, I have a project idea for this area.
Who should I go to and we can help you out with that.
[00:26:40] Speaker A: But you want to do it soon because the deadline is rapidly approaching and the sales Tax Commission has a lot of work ahead of it. But we can't wait to hear what kind of projects you have in mind. Well, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate it and I look forward to hearing more from you as the sales tax committee progresses and gets more of this work completed.
[00:26:58] Speaker D: I appreciate it and thank you for helping get the word out.
[00:27:01] Speaker A: That does it for another episode of first Friday with Georgetown county. There are several events coming up this month that I would like to go ahead and make you aware of. There will be a budget workshop for county council before their meeting on March twelveth. Shushcon, the library's annual gaming and geekery convention will take place March eigth through 10th. The sheriff's office will have a community listening session in Andrews on March 4. The library's community yard sale will be on March 16. There are a host of other events that you can find on our online
[email protected]. I also encourage you to go and check out our monthly newsletters. You can find the newsletter as well as news releases and other
[email protected]. Newsroom thank you for joining us and I look forward to seeing you again in April. Bye.
