The city of Cayce has grown by 10% in population over the last decade.
CAYCE, S.C. — As Cayce continues to grow, city leaders are working to redraw district lines, and tonight, voters shared their thoughts during a public hearing.
Cayce city council members have restarted the redistricting process that began almost two years ago. The city had a third party come in to help redraw the lines, the South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office.
"So there was a decent bit of work to be done. As you can see, districts 1 and 2 needed to gain people, and districts 3 and 4 needed to lose people," said Kathryn Kelley, representative from South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office.
Kelley said in the last 10 years, the city of Cayce has grown by 10% in population from about 12,500 people to 13,700 people. She said districts used to have a target population of 3,100, and now it's more like 3,400.
Here's what some residents of Cayce had to say in the public hearing:
"I hate to see my neighborhood broken up from one representative to another. It affects what happens in the neighborhood," Gerald Cromer said.
"Knowing that this'll be in place for at least the next 10 years, (consider if) some of the new housing developments will also be considered in our counts," Kelly Wuest, another resident said.
The State Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office clarified that only existing housing is considered in this redistricting.
Councilman James asked other members to consider redistricting consistent with what the city has been founded on.
"In my years of being in the city of Cayce, it's a bunch of neighborhoods that have made up the city. And those neighborhoods are Moss Creek, the Avenues, Broad Acres, and we start dividing those down, are we doing the right thing? When we start pulling out from those? Is there another way to look at it?," Tim James, Cayce city council member said.
So the mayor asked about options to defer.
"Is it better to not pass this on first reading, look at it and if it's still, just postpone first reading, if it's still good, then we move forward with this same map at the next meeting is first reading, or do we pass it on first reading knowing there is a possibility of changes?," Elise Partin, Cayce mayor said.
Kelley said her team could reassess.
"Alan can take a look from the census block level and see what we can do. We'll tell you if it's feasible," Kelley said.
Council unanimously voted to defer their first reading to February 19, 2025. The city said there's no specific deadline for having this new redistricting map ready by, but it needs to pass two readings before being sent on to the State Election Commission.
According to the city of Cayce, council members are discussing a possible second public hearing, but no decision has been made on that just yet.
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