Home Care In Fort Mill, SC

The longest, most expensive question on York County ballots this year asks about money for roads.

But the tax revenue and construction price tags are estimates, not guarantees. So, how confident should voters be in their decision?

Previous projects offers reasons both for optimism and concern on whether Pennies for Progress can deliver its latest road list on time and on budget.

A record $410.7 million bond vote on Nov. 5 includes $225 million for projects that appeared in prior Pennies campaigns, but weren’t finished. Yet road jobs were ahead of schedule and often under cost until a global pandemic changed everything.

First approved in 1997, Pennies is a one-cent sales tax program that’s been approved by voters four times. It’s responsible for hundreds of miles of road widening and resurfacing in the county.

With a fifth Pennies campaign on the ballot, The Herald asked program manager Patrick Hamilton for details on what voters should expect:

More than half of the Pennies 5 funding would go toward projects that were approved in prior Pennies campaigns, but weren’t done. Why weren’t they?

Due to the drastic inflation that has occurred post-COVID, there was not enough funding to complete all of the previously approved projects.

How much confidence do you have that all the projects on Pennies 5 will be completed if voters approve it? Are there certain roads or projects more likely to go unfunded than others?

The county made a significant investment into the development of detailed cost estimates for these projects. We used the same method on Pennies 4, and the first five projects that were completed all came in under budget. Once the massive inflation hit, the remaining projects became well over budget.

The largest single new project is U.S. 21 work in Fort Mill at almost $45 million, nearly four times as much as the next biggest. Two of eight carryover projects would widen U.S. 21 in Fort Mill, finishing jobs estimated at $150 million. Another carryover widening job connects to U.S. 21.

How would you explain to people in other parts of the county why so much money is going to the U.S. 21 corridor in Fort Mill?

The commission (that developed the Pennies 5 list) had this discussion during the project selection process. Their thoughts on this is the U.S. 21 is a regional project, not a Fort Mill project. There are people from Rock Hill and western York County that often use U.S. 21, especially if there is an accident on I-77.

Hurricane Helene wiped out roads, even interstates, throughout the Southeast that will have to be rebuilt. Are there large issues out there that could impact the costs of road jobs here due to availability of work crews, material prices, etc.?

We have not seen any negative impacts from the hurricane at this time.

How confident are you that the cost estimates for Pennies 5 projects are and will remain on target when the time comes to put them out for construction bids?

Based on the process that was used, we are confident that all projects can be completed on the Pennies 5 referendum. Looking back at Pennies 4, the first five projects that were completed, all came in under budget, which shows the process was working. Once the inflation hit, the remaining projects became well over budget.

What are the stakes for this Pennies vote? Do any of the listed roads get resurfaced or widened without it? When? How would you explain to someone in York County how important this decision is?

If Pennies 5 is not approved, it is very likely none of the projects on the referendum will be completed. There may be a few resurfacing roads that eventually get paved, but very unlikely any of the widening or intersection improvements get completed.

I will point out that this is not a new tax, but a continuation of a tax that has been in place since 1997. It is not a property tax or income tax, which means people who visit York county and don’t live here contribute to the program.

A Flourish chart

? $410.7 million

The total cost of Pennies 5 is about $130 million more than any prior campaign. All four prior Pennies ballot questions combined for about $710 million. Higher projections come from population and business growth.

? $225 million

Carryover projects on Pennies 5, that weren’t done from prior votes, include widening U.S. 21 from Springfield Parkway to Carowinds Boulevard in Fort Mill, S.C. 51 from U.S. 21 to the North Carolina line, Sutton Road from Interstate-77 to a bridge on Fort Mill Parkway, U.S. 21 from Springfield Parkway to S.C. 160 and S.C. 557 from Kingsburry Road to S.C. 55 in Lake Wylie. There are three other intersection improvements and one drainage project.

? $80 million

The cost of resurfacing about 77 miles of road across the county. There are 48 roads listed on the ballot to be prioritized for surfacing based on available funds.

? 3

The number of new road projects priced at $10 million or more, down noticeably from past Pennies campaigns. More money goes to carryover jobs and smaller new jobs that spread work across more of the county. A nearly $45 million widening of part of U.S. 21 in Fort Mill, almost $13 million for Neely Road improvements in Rock Hill and $9 million for design work to later widen Fort Mill Parkway are the largest new jobs.

? 70%

In four Pennies campaigns to date, York County residents cast more than 61,017 votes. The 70% overall approval rate includes passage at 51% in 1997, 73% in 2003, 82% in 2011 and 78% in 2017.

? 195,289

More than 195,000 registered voters live in York County.

? 2024

This year is the first when Pennies coincides with a presidential election, meaning far more votes are likely to be cast for Pennies 5 than in any prior referendum. There’s never been an even-year Pennies, and it hasn’t always been in November (2011 was in August). Voter turnout was 23% in 1997, 16% in 2003, 9% in 2011 and 10% in 2017.

Reality Check reflects the Rock Hill Herald’s commitment to holding those in power to account, shining a light on public issues that affect our local readers and illuminating the stories that sets the Rock Hill region apart. Email [email protected]

This story was originally published October 23, 2024, 5:50 AM.

The Herald

803-329-4076

John Marks graduated from Furman University in 2004 and joined the Herald in 2005. He covers community growth, municipalities, transportation and education mainly in York County and Lancaster County. The Fort Mill native earned dozens of South Carolina Press Association awards and multiple McClatchy President’s Awards for news coverage in Fort Mill and Lake Wylie.

CHARLESTON, S.C. — The 2024 general election is quickly approaching, but South Carolina voters will not have to wait until Election Day to cast a ballot.

Governor Henry McMaster signed a law in May 2022 that replaces in-person absentee voting with an early in-person voting period for the two weeks leading up to election days.

Any registered voter, including those who will be 18 years old by the Nov. 5 general election, can cast a ballot during the early voting period without an excuse.

“Early voting provides a convenient and secure way for you to cast your ballot,” said Howie Knapp, the executive director of the South Carolina Election Commission. “Find an early voting center in your county, vote just like you would at your polling place on Election Day, and have your voice heard.”

Early voting for the 2024 election begins on Monday, October 21, and ends on Saturday, Nov. 2.

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Here’s what voters need to know:

The ballot will include seven candidates for president, according to officials:

An eighth candidate — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — was initially nominated by the South Carolina Alliance Party. However, party leaders withdrew him from the ballot in August after he suspended his presidential campaign.

Additionally, each of South Carolina’s seven U.S. House of Representatives seats is up for election.

All 170 seats in the South Carolina state legislature — 124 in the House and 46 in the Senate — are also up for grabs this year. Some are uncontested, however.

Some ballots will also include races for county sheriff, circuit solicitor, probate judge, coroner, school board, and other countywide and local races.

Voters can find out who is on the ballot where they live by obtaining a sample ballot from the South Carolina Election Commission.

South Carolina adopted new state legislative district maps in December 2021 following the 2020 U.S. Census. Some district lines were redrawn, new districts were created, and some districts were eliminated.

Voters can find out which district they live in on the South Carolina legislature’s website.

Each county in South Carolina is required to have at least one polling location open for early voting. Some larger counties may have multiple open locations while smaller counties may have just one early voting site.

Early voting centers are open Monday through Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the early voting period. Early voting is not available on Sunday, Oct. 27.

Here are the early voting locations* in the Lowcountry, by county:

Chester County

Chesterfield County

Lancaster County

York County

You can find the complete list of early voting locations in every South Carolina county here.

Editor’s Note: The list of early voting centers may be updated as additional information becomes available.

A valid photo ID is required to vote in South Carolina elections, including during the early voting period. Acceptable forms of identification include:

State law requires an individual to register to vote at least 30 days before an election.

The deadline to register for the 2024 election is Monday, Oct. 14.

There are several ways you can register to vote in South Carolina:

1 – South Carolinians can register online by visiting scvotes.gov before midnight on Oct. 14. You will need your South Carolina Driver’s License or DMV ID card.

2 – Download a voter registration form from scvotes.gov. Complete and return the form to your county voter registration office either by fax or email before midnight on Oct. 14, or by mail – but it must be postmarked by Oct. 14.

3 – Register in person at your county voter registration office. Remember: most offices close at 5 p.m. for in-office registration.

Voters can check their registration status by visiting scvotes.gov.

The difficult, detailed process of figuring out where Fort Mill students will go to school next fall isn’t over yet. Parents still have time to make their voices heard.

Some of those parents voiced concerns Tuesday night when the Fort Mill School Board heard a district recommendation for new elementary and middle school attendance lines. New lines are needed with the opening of Flint Hill Elementary School next year and Flint Hill Middle School in 2026.

Here are five items to note on the school attendance line conversation:

The school district has an interactive map and static maps for the public to review. Both are online at fortmillschools.org.

The new maps are the district’s recommendation. They’re slightly different from ones presented two weeks ago by a consultant out of Ohio. They recombined the Manors at Lake Ridge and some Baxter properties with parts of those neighborhoods that split off from the rest in the prior maps.

The map revision follows 450 emails from district parents in the past two weeks. They represent 11 neighborhoods from across the district, although more came from neighborhoods on the northern end.

Parents who still want to provide input should email [email protected].

Students in the Reserve at Gold Hill neighborhood face a fifth rezoning since 2006, having already been through an “overwhelming series of disruptions in their educational journeys,” said parent Brittany Gildner.

Parent Laura Edwards can see from her home the Pleasant Knoll schools her child could walk to, she said, but her Habersham neighborhood was zoned in the initial maps for other schools. Marissa Robbins in Knightsbridge wondered how the district can meet maximum rider time limits on buses or other traffic measures the new zoning could impact.

Parents on Tuesday linked school zone changes to increased stress and decreased social or emotional well-being. They also offered numerous traffic concerns.

Board chairwoman Kristy Spears called redrawing lines the “absolute least favorite activity that anyone ever does as a board member.” It’s not easier now than it was the first time the district had to do it in 1994 with the opening of Gold Hill Elementary School, said Superintendent Chuck Epps.

“It worked out,” said Epps, who was the first principal at Gold Hill Elementary. “It was challenging. But it was a big, traumatic thing for the community.”

Because of the public concerns it stirs up, the district opts to do it only when a new school opens to “go through the pain at once,” said district spokesman Joe Burke. The district has four schools under enrollment freezes that the new lines should alleviate.

Board members expect to hear complaints from parents impacted by new lines.

The final lines will be based on student distribution in schools, keeping neighborhoods together, transportation, planned neighborhood growth and similar factors.

“It’s a challenging exercise,” Epps said. “The final verdict that the board votes on is going to have some pros and cons. It’s always this way.”

Filling the two Flint Hill schools has been contentious for an issue outside the district’s control.

The neighboring Silfab Solar manufacturing site has been a hot topic all year, with residents stating the company will store dangerous chemicals and the company stating its operations are safe. Silfab hasn’t started production yet.

The school district learned Tuesday the Environmental Protection Agency approved emergency management plans for Silfab that don’t require any mandatory evacuations at the Flint Hill schools, Burke said. York County emergency management and the school district will evaluate plans next.

“Even in worst-case scenario for what they do on that site, there is no mandatory evacuation area that encompasses our schools,” Burke said.

First responders to any emergency at the Silfab site could call for evacuations given whatever incident might happen, he said. The school district has emergency response plans for each of its schools and will have one for the Flint Hill facilities too, Burke said.

The school board’s final call on the attendance lines will come Nov. 5.

That’s election night across the country, and three of the seven school board seats in Fort Mill are up for election. All three board members whose seats are up for election are in the six-candidate field listed on the ballot.

Board members say they hear parents, but that they also have to make difficult decisions on what’s best for all students and families in the district. Spears pointed to recent school report card listings that show Fort Mill routinely leads the state across multiple test score or other rankings.

“No matter which school the students go to,” Spears said, “we know that they’re going to get a great experience because all of our schools are fantastic.”

The Herald

803-329-4076

John Marks graduated from Furman University in 2004 and joined the Herald in 2005. He covers community growth, municipalities, transportation and education mainly in York County and Lancaster County. The Fort Mill native earned dozens of South Carolina Press Association awards and multiple McClatchy President’s Awards for news coverage in Fort Mill and Lake Wylie.

FORT MILL, S.C. — Thousands of Fort Mill Schools district students will likely be reassigned to a new school next year.

“We know that there are many neighborhoods that are impacted by this, and many neighborhoods that are frankly upset about it,” said parent Melissa Carstens.

Fort Mill School District considers ways to help with influx of students

The mother moved her family to Fort Mill in 2015, because of the school system.

Her children have been redistricted several times since then, she said.

“It seems that this time it’s a little bit more haphazard than it has in the past,” Carstens said.

She said the district appears to have overlooked the human element.

“Without any concern for things like traffic,” she said. “Bus rides are going to be longer.”

The district is opening Flint Hill Elementary School next year and Flint Hill Middle School the year after that.

“Any time we open schools, we have to then look at the lines and adjust them to populate those schools,” said district spokesperson Joseph Burke.

He estimates the process will impact at least 2,500 elementary and middle school students.

“When we adjust those lines, it generally, mostly, impacts every school in that particular grade level,” Burke said.

Carstens said the first draft will be disruptive if it comes to fruition, particularly, for kids like her son who attend Gold Hill Middle School.

“Unfortunately, he’s going to do his sixth-grade year at one middle school and then transfer to a new middle where he is now rezoned for seventh and eighth grade,” Carstens said.

Many of the students in her Hawks Creek neighborhood will move from a school that’s virtually right around the corner to one that is a half-hour away, she said.

“We’re hoping that they might take a closer look and see if they can do better,” Carstens said.

Officials reiterate the plan is only in its first draft stage.

“We try to address those concerns anywhere we can,” Burke said. “The hard part is sometimes you do just have to make changes.”

District officials said they have received 300 emails from the community about the proposed maps.

They’re taking public feedback through next Monday.

School district staff will present the maps they recommend on Tuesday during the school board meeting.

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