Indian Land residents hear plan for new tax

Residents aren’t sold on a special tax proposal that would fund “enhanced” police protection for Indian Land.

About 75 people turned out Monday night to hear Lancaster County Sheriff Barry Faile outline the proposal. Faile and local Lancaster County Council representatives looked into ways of providing better service to the rapidly growing panhandle area.

One option is to create a special tax district, where residents in a small area of the county pay for service beyond what other areas of the county can expect.

The new tax would be $75 per household, per year. Businesses would pay $75 for every 2,500 square feet of space. Those rates are the same as fire tax districts in Indian Land and Pleasant Valley, and would cover the same areas.

More residents than not Monday opposed the tax. In a two-hour meeting that was vocal throughout, residents questioned why they should pay more when they already pay a significant amount of county property taxes. They wondered who would oversee the new money, and how strictly it would be tied to the panhandle area.

One resident called the current setup of only two Indian Land representatives on the seven-member Lancaster County Council “taxation without representation” and said the high population area isn’t getting its money’s worth now. Another called the tax idea a “reactive proposal.”

“We’ve been paying taxes,” said Mike Wilson, a long-time area resident, “and the money has gone primarily to Lancaster. Now you’re talking about charging us to get what we already deserve.”

Faile’s department is broken into three districts. The Indian Land area, while high in population, doesn’t draw as many service calls as the Lancaster district. Faile distributes his officers to provide equal service throughout the county, which includes largely rural areas, too.

Indian Land has three officers on patrol at a time, limiting how much officers can do.

“Things I hear the most are, why did it take an officer so long to get to my house?” Faile said.

The types of crime in Indian Land often are related to a lower police presence, like when someone breaks into multiple cars in a neighborhood or Wal-Mart parking lot.

“The things that we see the most are crime sprees,” Faile said.

The Indian Land district covers about the same square mileage as police departments in Fort Mill, York, Clover and Lancaster combined. Fort Mill serves about half the population as District 1, but with three times the number of sworn officers.

Faile said he can continue the current level of service, but was asked to come up with a way to improve it. The plan would provide $1.6 million in startup money and $975,000 annually to fund 12 officers, three investigators and other additions to the Indian Land area.

Many residents said they would not support the new tax. Faile’s figures that 63 percent of service calls, 74 percent of major crimes, 64 percent of violent crimes and 54 percent of property crimes come from neighboring District 2 show his reasoning for distributing more manpower there. Residents came to a different conclusion.

“They’re committing the crimes, so shouldn’t they be paying the cost?” said resident Alen Patterson.

Patterson also wasn’t buying the argument that tax districts have helped fire service. Fire departments were volunteer before tax districts somewhat professionalized them. Police protection already is a paid county service.

“We’re comparing apples to oranges,” Patterson said. “It’s almost like Council is stepping away and saying, you’re on your own.”

Many residents said they worried Council would continue adding taxes to them, with little to show in return.

“We’re county residents,” Wilson said, “not a cash cow.”

Councilman Brian Carnes said it takes the taxes on about a $500,000 home to cover the costs of county services provided to each home. Carnes said concerns by some, that the Sheriff’s Office would pull existing service from Indian Land and use only what the new tax provides, are unwarranted.

“You can only have enhanced service levels as long as you have a base service level,” Carnes said.

Council provides money for Faile to use as he sees fit, Carnes said, and would not direct him to cut back on countywide funding for Indian Land.

“We don’t say this is your money for Indian Land, this is your money for Lancaster, this is your money for Kershaw,” Carnes said. “This is your money for operating your department.”

Brian Greene, president of the Sun City neighborhood watch, was one of several residents who spoke in favor of the new plan. With two officers required for each call and only three in Indian Land at a time, Greene sees a cost in not having greater presence in the area.

“If two are gone, we have no officers here at all,” he said.

Greene and others are working to have petitions signed. At least 15 percent of registered voters in the tax area must sign a petition to get it on a ballot. Then, a majority will decide. Greene’s group will have sign-up events at its next neighborhood watch meeting Aug. 4 and at the Indian Land Fair on Sept. 19, among other times.

He was encouraged Monday that while initial response was overwhelmingly negative on the plan, other voices emerged as time passed.

“As people listened, the optimism increased,” Greene said.

Faile said he is not bothered whether residents accept the plan, or it never makes a ballot. His goal of maintaining professional service to Indian Land will not change, regardless whether his manpower does.

“We’re going to continue to do that, whether this passes or not,” Faile said.

This story was originally published July 21, 2015 at 2:41 PM with the headline "Indian Land residents hear plan for new tax."