Annexation opportunities important to Hartsville's future

Cities and towns are the core of the state’s economic success and competitiveness and are critical in our ability to attract innovative companies that produce higher wage jobs and opportunities for South Carolinians. New companies that locate in our cities and towns, as well as businesses that have operated in our city for decades, sustain our local economic development and positive quality of life.

The City of Hartsville is home to a rich tradition of residents and local leaders who support our local businesses, give generously to local charities, take pride in our downtown and genuinely want our hometown to succeed both economically and culturally.

Sonoco has employed thousands of residents in our community and continues to attract new residents and visitors each year. Coker College educates hundreds of students each year and brings more prospective students and parents to our community. The S.C. Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics brings the state’s best and the brightest students to our city, while local downtown businesses remain the anchor of our community. These are just a few of the tremendous assets with have here in Hartsville. But to maintain the success we have experienced with all of these positive attributes and attractive qualities, we need even more opportunities for economic development and commerce.

If Hartsville is to continue to thrive and become a true leader in our region, the state’s outdated annexation laws need reforming to allow cities and towns to grow to their natural boundaries to attract industry, tourism opportunities and to provide better services to residents. The simple fact is that our city can not keep pace with growth due to these same annexation laws. Our city population is static whereas the areas surrounding the city have grown rapidly. However, these same non-resident Hartsvillians place tremendous demands on the city services and infrastructure. To complicate matters, the General Assembly placed caps on how much cities and towns can raise millage rates in order to fund these services and serve both residents and non-residents.

But this is an issue affecting more than just Hartsville. These outdated laws affect every hometown in the state by placing an artificial boundary around municipalities that poses challenges to local leaders when recruiting business, providing safety and protection of residents and maintaining a superior level of services.

If cities and towns as the vibrant cores of our region can not attract new and maintain current commerce, then our state can not compete regionally, nationally and internationally in the new knowledge economy. This is especially true for the highly skilled workers that our businesses in Hartsville so desperately need.

Our neighboring states North Carolina and Georgia are passing laws that allow cities and towns to grow to their natural boundaries. This allows local leaders to plan for smart growth, increased services for new neighborhood developments and a higher quality of life for businesses, residents and their families. Annexation reform is a critical issue for our state.

During this session in the General Assembly, legislative leaders and a group of organizations around the state that represent varied interests have been working together to reform the state’s annexation laws. While this process is a process of compromise, it is important that the issue is at the forefront of debate.

In March of this year, the S.C. Chamber of Commerce and its partners released their benchmarking report, Break Away South Carolina that measures the state’s competitiveness. This report shows that while we have made progress, we still have work to do before we can compete in the global market. To increase our competitiveness and support our hometowns as regional leaders, our outdated annexation laws must be reformed to allow cities and towns to grow to their natural boundaries to attract business and commerce.

Hartsville is a great hometown. Our schools, our business and our industry are all important to both new and lifelong residents. Hartsville provides a positive quality of life, tourism opportunities with festivals and parades, job opportunities, a vibrant downtown and, most important, caring and dedicated residents who genuinely want our city to succeed.

Your local leaders want every opportunity to continue the tradition of Hartsville as an urban core with a small town appeal that is a great place to work and live for Pee Dee families. If our hometown is to continue to meet the needs of our families as well as our businesses, annexation laws must be changed.

— Michael Holt is serving his first term as mayor of Hartsville.