Yemassee closer to possibly being annexed into Beaufort County. What happens next?
After months of collecting signatures and fending off rumors, Yemassee residents are a step closer to joining Beaufort County.
Talks of annexation between officials in Yemassee and Beaufort County began as early as December, but were fairly quiet and held behind closed doors until The Island Packet first reported on the efforts in February.
When rumors began to swirl in the town of about 1,500 people, upset residents went to Town Council meetings demanding answers. That’s when the petition effort publicly surfaced.
Lifelong Yemassee resident Stephen Henson, who called himself the “key driver” in getting the petition signed, submitted it to S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster’s office Monday, WSAV reported and The Island Packet confirmed.
Henson said the petition he submitted had more than 140 signatures, explaining that the required number for a successful petition is 10% of registered voters in the proposed area.
He said organizers aren’t sure of the exact number of signatures needed because the potential area to be annexed includes some areas that are on the outskirts of town limits. Organizers believe from 100 to 120 signatures would be needed.
The map he submitted is also slightly different from the map first created in February, and now follows natural boundaries such as I-95 and the Combahee River. The entire area is about seven square miles.
Henson said he hand delivered the paperwork to the Hampton County Clerk of Court on Monday before mailing the documents to McMaster’s office. He has yet to get a confirmation of delivery from the governor’s office. He said despite not being required to do so, he also submitted the documents to the Beaufort County Clerk of Court and the Town of Yemassee.
“It’s just a waiting game to see what kind of direction we get from governor’s office,” he said.
Yemassee officials are also standing by, Town Clerk Matt Garnes said.
“If the petition is all good, we’ll be doing a lot of fact finding and digging into the nitty-gritty of it,” he said. “We’ll be trying to find out what we would gain and what we would lose.”
Representatives of the Hampton County Clerk of Court and Beaufort County Clerk of Court could not be immediately reached Wednesday to confirm the submissions.
Why does Yemassee want to annex into Beaufort County?
Most of Yemassee is in Hampton County. About a third of it is in Beaufort County.
That’s not uncommon. Sixteen other cities and towns in South Carolina have borders that go beyond one county, including Charleston and Columbia, the two largest cities in the state.
Those in favor of annexation have argued the town would benefit from being completely inside one county and they think they would reap more benefits from Beaufort County, including lower taxes and full-time, paid fire protection.
Those opposing annexation are concerned about with the effect on public schools, the future of the popular senior center in Yemassee and possible misinformation on Hampton County’s taxation rate.
For Henson, joining Beaufort County is a chance for his hometown to have more resources and revitalize itself.
“We have the opportunity to be the town we were 40 years ago when I was a boy,” he said. “It’s not going to happen overnight but ... I learned a long time ago that if you’re unhappy, you need to change it.”
He said the move to Beaufort County would attract new residents and businesses which would keep Yemassee from “drying up and becoming a ghost town.”
What happens now?
If McMaster approves the petition, Yemassee must pay for surveying the land included in the annexation. Garnes said the town doesn’t have an estimate for how much the survey would cost.
The governor would also appoint an annexation commission that would include two members from Hampton County and two from Beaufort County who would oversee the process.
The governor could then order a special election. Residents in the area to be annexed - as well as Beaufort County voters - would be eligible to vote.
If the vote fails, Yemassee could not hold another annexation election for four years, according to state code.
Yemassee leaders intended to host a “plethora of public town halls” with town officials and representatives of both counties to bring residents up to speed.
The effort is supposed to be citizen led, so now that the completed petition is submitted, “the process will become official and the citizens of Yemassee will be able to gather a lot more information,” Henson said.
Now, he said, local government leaders can be involved in the process and answer questions so residents better understand “both the pros and cons.”
Did officials in Beaufort and Hampton counties know?
Beaufort County Council Chairman Joe Passiment said he was Wednesday he unaware that a petition had been submitted, but said “that does happen.”
“There are several things that are going on in Beaufort County right now where people are looking to come into Beaufort County and people are looking to leave Beaufort County,” he said.
When asked to elaborate, he said he could not because those actions were in the works.
Vice Chairman Paul Sommerville - who previously told The Island Packet that Beaufort County Council and staff had heard about the annexation efforts and said “it makes sense for us to have as close relationship with them as we can” - did not return a phone call seeking comment Wednesday morning.
Sommerville had also attended a Yemassee Town Council meeting on March 10 where he sat silently in the front row as citizens peppered the council with annexation questions.
He later said he was there because he’s a liaison to Yemassee and other areas so occasionally attends meetings. Although he wasn’t there because of the annexation discussions, he was “curious about what they’re doing.”
Hampton County Council Chairman Clay Bishop said he’d heard about the petition, but had yet to receive formal notice or speak to the rest of council about it.
He did say it was expected, though.
“We’ve kind of been waiting to see what’s been presented,” Bishop said. “... It’s a little disappointing but we all kind of knew it was coming ... .”
Bishop said he’s confident the people of Yemassee “will see through it” and vote to stay in Hampton County.
There’s been a lot done in Yemassee in the last two years, he said, citing the recently painted murals honoring veterans and a new metal recycling business.
“Residents do see what we’re doing good and will vote no,” he said.
Hampton County Administrator Rose Dobson-Elliott did not return a call or text seeking comment Wednesday morning.
She’d previously said the petition was “a slap in the face to Hampton County” and that she didn’t know “if this is a land grab (or) they’re trying to take our citizens and a portion of our tax base.”
This story was originally published July 29, 2020 at 1:23 PM.
