Lancaster Co. sheriff: Proposed tax district would pay for more deputies in Indian Land

Lancaster County Sheriff Barry Faile wants Indian Land residents to create a special tax district to pay for more deputies to patrol the growing panhandle area of the county.

The proposed district would lie north of S.C. 75, Faile said, with boundaries that match the Pleasant Valley and Indian Land fire districts. That unincorporated area of the Lancaster panhandle, which runs along the eastern edge of York County, is generally known as Indian Land and includes the communities of Van Wyck and Hancock.

“The purpose of this initiative is to enhance the law enforcement services we are providing in the Indian Land area, which has shown substantial growth in population and commerce in a relatively short time,” Faile said Thursday.

He already has an idea how additional tax money would be used.

“We need more deputies to respond to calls and regulate traffic,” Faile said. “We need to be able to keep our response times at a minimum. We also need investigators permanently assigned to the area to investigate the increasing number of crimes which are not routine calls.”

Money generated in the Indian Land area would pay for law enforcement resources only within that area, similar to special fire tax districts common to the area. The move would supplement service to Indian Land, not replace it.

“These additional officers will not replace our personnel who already work in the area,” Faile said.

South Carolina law allows special tax districts for police, fire and similar funding needs. Steve Willis, Lancaster County administrator, said he isn’t aware of another tax district in the state specifically for law enforcement.

“It’s still just in the conceptual phase,” Willis said. “At this point, they’re just seeing if there’s enough interest.”

The first step toward creating the district would be to get 15 percent of voters who live in the proposed tax district to sign a petition requesting creation of the district. Then a special election would be held among voters in the proposed district. If a majority of those voting were to approve the measure, the district would be created.

Specifics on how much would be charged weren’t available Thursday.

“There’s no use going to all that trouble if you don’t even know whether people would support it,” Willis said.

The Indian Land and Pleasant Valley fire tax districts are the only ones in Lancaster County, where a tax charged just in those areas goes to fire service. York County has several rural fire departments with special tax districts, complete with boards that oversee tax income.

Willis said there is at least one municipal tax district in the state that covers a variety of public uses, including law enforcement.

The proposal for Indian Land could be part of a larger planning question, Willis said. Indian Land remains an unincorporated area, though it has seen explosive growth the past few years.

“You get into the question of how do you provide city-level services with a rural tax base?” Willis said.

The county, without something like a tax district, could not provide better law enforcement service in unincorporated Indian Land than in other unincorporated, rural areas.

Another option for Indian Land residents is to incorporate into their own municipality.

“That’s obviously up to the citizens,” Willis said.

This story was originally published July 2, 2015 at 10:13 AM with the headline "Lancaster Co. sheriff: Proposed tax district would pay for more deputies in Indian Land."