The exact location of municipal boundaries is a critical issue that determines everything from representation on city council to determining which local government is responsible for providing services.
There are many tax considerations as well — is a given business located in the city that collects a business license tax? Was a given online purchase delivered to an address inside a city, and therefore subject to sales tax in that city? Did a ride with a transportation network company, like Uber or Lyft, originate inside the city, meaning that the city should receive a portion of the local assessment fee?
Handling these issues requires correct documentation and reporting of annexations to state agencies and other entities that need to know.
Reporting to the state
State law requires municipalities to notify four entities of every annexation of property:
- The SC Secretary of State, which issues certificates of incorporation;
- The SC Department of Transportation, which needs information on maintenance responsibility for any given road;
- The SC Department of Public Safety; and
- The SC Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office, which uses the information to draw lines for election districts and to determine Local Government Fund disbursements.
Historically, the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office has maintained the most accurate database of GIS boundary mapping in South Carolina. RFA posts its database of city and county boundaries on its website in an accessible format.
To ensure it has accurate data, cities and towns should regularly report to RFA their boundaries, districts and wards, even when annexations do not take place. Municipalities should report boundary information to RFA at least once every year even if the boundaries have not changed.
Reporting locally
Beyond the requirements of state law, reporting annexations to local entities — including within the municipality itself — can help with coordination. Cities should give up-to-date boundary information to all of these groups:
- All municipal departments, preventing incorrect assumptions by any city staff about whether a given property is inside the city;
- The county government, which helps with the proper coordination of services, especially emergency services;
- The county board of voter registration, which allows it to assign election districts to new annexations; and
- Utility franchisees, so that franchise fees can be levied correctly.
Many cities and towns now use their websites to providing boundary maps and zoning maps to help get the available data into the hands of contractors, engineers or members of the public who may need it.
Officials can find the RFA boundaries database at rfa.sc.gov/mapping/tncmaps. For discrepancies or assistance, contact RFA at mapping@rfa.sc.gov or 803.734.3793.