letter to the citizens · the garden city parking lot were dedicated amoung others. more are...

I write this letter with a combination

of pride and regret. It has been my

great privilege to serve you in my

two years as your Chairman of Horry

County Council. The citizens of the

Seventh District have honored me

with election to the United States

Congress. While I am excited and

anxious to begin work on the

momentous problems facing our

country, I regret that my tenure as

Chairman will soon end.

2012 has been another year of great

progress in Horry County. Horry Coun-

ty residents have seen major road con-

struction. The Aynor Overpass, Fred

Nash Boulevard and the Harrelson

Boulevard extension were completed.

Work is well underway on the SC 31

extension, the backgate interchange

project, and miles of paved roads in

the rural area. Other roadway projects

will be soon beginning.

Many building projects have been

completed. The South Strand Recre-

ational Center, Aynor Library Expan-

sion, the Carolina Forest Library, the

Carolina Forest Recreation Center,

the Surfside Library Expansion, and

the Garden City parking lot were

dedicated amoung others. More

are underway, most notably, the

Myrtle Beach International Airport

expansion project.

In my mind, there is no effort more

important than our economic

development initiative. Horry leads

in so many areas, but we lag terribly

in jobs and wages. A focus on eco-

nomic development can dramatical-

ly improve our quality of life. The

county's investment in the Myrtle

Beach Regional Economic Develop-

ment Corporation is bearing fruit,

with over 300 jobs announced this

year. We have only just begun. It

will build from here.

County Council and Staff continue

to look for ways to stretch your

dollar, while striving to improve our

Tom Rice

Letter to the Citizensservices, with our Number One goal

of “Committed to Excellence”. We

have recently instituted a Lean Six

Sigma program to improve quality,

efficiency and constituent satisfac-

tion. Hopefully, you will soon begin

to see good results.

It is our mission to be good stew-

ards of taxpayer dollars, while con-

tinually improving the quality of life

of our citizens and visitors. With our

exceptional staff and County Coun-

cil’s leadership, we continue to

make great strides. I am pleased to

present this annual report and share

the good news about how your

County government is working for

you. As we continue to grow, your

county government pledges to

make every effort to make Horry

County the best it can be.

Thank you again for allowing me to

serve as your chairman.

Tom Rice

Pictured on the back row from left to right:

Brent Schulz (District 2), W. Paul Prince (District 9), Al Allen

(District 11), Jody Prince (District 10), Carl Schwartzkopf

(District 8), Marion Foxworth, III (District 3), and Gary

Loftus (District 4)

Pictured on the front row from left to right:

James R. Frazier (District 7), Chairman Tom Rice, Paul D.

Price, Jr. (District 5), Harold G. Worley (District 1), and Bob

Grabowski (District 6).

1301 2nd Avenue, Conway, South Carolina 29526

The Horry County Council represents 11 differentdistricts in the County and the chairman is electedat-large. The Council meets the first and third Tuesday ofevery month at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers located inthe Horry County Government & Justice Center, 13012nd Avenue in Conway.

The meetings are televised “live” on HTC Channel 14 andTime Warner Cable Channel 3. The meetings are alsostreamed “live” on the County’s website atwww.horrycounty.org. Archived video of the Councilmeetings, agendas and minutes are available online atwww.horrycounty.org.

Horry County Council -

Guiding Our Future

Cover photo of the Aynor Overpass, courtesy of Mead & Hunt, Inc.

We Did That -

(843) 915-5390 www.horrycounty.org

Know Your Zone is a publiceducation campaign toinform the citizens andvisitors of Horry County ofthe new hurricane evacu-ation zones and their vul-nerability to storm surge.To date, the EmergencyManagement staff hasgiven 53 presentations to5,807 citizens about thenew hurricane evacuation

zones, their vulnerabilityto storm surge and hurri-cane preparedness. Inaddition, 115,515 KnowYour Zone informationalinserts were includedwith County tax noticesthat were mailed out tothe property owners inthe identified hurricaneevacuation zones.

Prior to the implementa-tion of video conferencebond hearings, municipalpolice departments had totransport numerous peo-ple each day for bondhearings. Since the imple-mentation of the VideoArraignment System onApril 1, 2012, the participat-ing municipal agencieshave saved significant timeand money. Video confer-

encing has also lessenedthe chance of contrabandentering J. Reuben LongDetention Center, lessenedthe risk of escape, andreduced the public interac-tion with inmates at hear-ings.

Video arraignment is cur-rently working in MyrtleBeach, North Myrtle Beach,Conway and Aynor.

Video Arraignment

Know Your

Zone Campaign

What We Accomplished

The Keep Horry County BeautifulCommittee (KHCB) was established topromote the goals of education, publicrelations/outreach, and litter preven-tion/beautification. This year theCommittee facilitated Community LitterCleanup events in Carolina Forest andFantasy Harbour. It also participat-ed in beautification efforts inCarolina Forest and in theConway area. The Committeeis seeking grant funding tosupport communityclean-up and beautifica-tion efforts. KHCB wassuccessful in obtain-ing an $8,000 KeepSC Beautiful grantfor the beautificationof selected gate-ways aroundConway and a$3,000 grant fromthe CigaretteLitter PreventionProgram to abatecigarette litter atboth CoastalCarolinaUniversity andHorry-GeorgetownTechnical College.The Committee alsoobtained a PalmettoPride TreeGrant of 265 trees donated toHorry County to be used to fur-ther beautify public spaces, such

as the South Strand RecreationComplex and the SC544 and US17

interchange area.

KHCB also has been very suc-cessful in enrolling communityorganizations and volunteers

within their CommunityCleanup Program. Groupssuch as the Navy Junior

ROTC at Carolina ForestHigh School, the

Sunrise Rotary Club ofCarolina Forest and theCarolina Forest

Veterinary Hospitalhave committed them-

selves over a two-yearperiod to regularlycleanup litter anddebris from HorryCounty roads, includ-ing Carolina ForestBoulevard and PostalWay. In exchange for

their voluntary service,the KHCB provides these

groups with supplies and haserected roadside signs acknowl-edging their participation in this

program.

Beautification Initiatives


We Did That - What We Accomplished

We Did That - What We Accomplished

The Certificate of Achievement forExcellence in Financial Reporting hasbeen awarded to the Horry Countyand Revenue Department by theGovernment Finance OfficersAssociation of the United States andCanada (GFOA) for its comprehensiveannual financial report (CAFR) for theyear ended June 30, 2010.

An Award of Financial ReportingAchievement has been awarded tothe Horry County FinanceDepartment. This is the 24th consec-utive year that Horry County hasreceived this award.

Horry County Budget & Revenuereceived the Distinguished Budget

Presentation Award by theGovernment Finance OfficersAssociation of the United States andCanada. This is Horry County’s 23rdconsecutive award.

The Horry County Public InformationOffice received the 2012 SuperiorAward for the Annual Report, the2012 Superior Award for the KnowYour Zone Logo and the 2012Excellent Award for the redesign ofthe Emergency Management Logoby the National Association ofCounty Information Officers.

The Horry County PlanningDepartment won a 2012 NationalAssociation of Counties Achievement

Award and received recognition forthe award during the 2012 AnnualConference. Horry County won theaward for its Cemetery Project thatseeks to locate, inventory, photo-graph, map and preserve an estimat-ed 450 historic cemeteries in thecounty’s unincorporated areas.

The Horry County Cemetery Projectwas named as the ArcheologicalStewardship Award winner, by thePalmetto Trust Historic Preservation.The Archeological StewardshipAward is presented in recognition ofsignificant achievements or landmarkefforts in the support of SouthCarolina’s archeological heritage.

Horry County Police Departmentwelcomed a new Chief of Police onSeptember 21, 2012. SaundraRhodes, a native of Horry Countywith 20 years of law enforcementexperience in Horry County, waschosen to lead the County PoliceDepartment. Chief Rhodes hasbeen very busy reaching out to thecommunity and getting the word ofher Community Oriented PolicingPhilosophy out.

“I am committed to providing thecommunities and businesses ofthis County with the most profes-sional, transparent and customer-oriented police services possible,”stated Chief Rhodes. “I look for-ward to continuing to developrelationships between us and thepublic; together we can work tomake Horry County a safer place tolive.”

Frederick Crosby was namedFire Chief of Horry CountyFire/Rescue in November of2012. With more than 34 yearsexperience in the fire/EMS field,Chief Crosby brings an amazingamount of knowledge and expe-rience to the Department.

As the new Fire Chief, Chief

Crosby will be spending muchof his time getting to know thepeople of Horry County, employ-ees and citizens alike. “A lot ofmy time is going to be spentjust finding out what our peopleneed to get going, what thecommunity needs, and areasthat we can improve on,” statedCrosby. "I believe what we do is

honorable and important for thepeople we serve, so what I wantto make sure is that the fire-fighters have high moral, so thatthey function at the highestlevel possible, so that we givethe best service possible. Mygoal is to make this HorryCounty organization as great asit can be.”

New Police Chief

New Fire Chief


Awards and Recognitions

A Look to the Future -Project Updates


The Old Burroughs School Building and itsattached McKown Auditorium underwentextensive renovations to create the newHorry County Museum Complex on MainStreet in Conway.The project’s scope-of-design included initial Museum exhibitdesign, and the resulting building configu-ration and systems required to support theexhibits, which are to be funded by dona-tions.

The project final cost was $6.4M, and thescope of construction included selectivedemolition & safing, supplemental founda-tions and foundation repair, structuralrestoration and code driven structural

upgrades, new wall/ceiling/millwork finish-es, new roofing/painting/electrical lighting& power/mechanical systems &controls/plumbing/fire protection/fire alarmsystems. Much of the original wood flooringand wainscoting was refurbished and rein-stalled.The buildings were handed over tothe Museum Department in July 2012.

Museum staff is currently installing exhibitsin the renovated Burroughs School. Thisinvolves building case work to house arti-facts and stage exhibits. There are severallarge installations like the aquarium that willbe completed by outside contractors. Thecompletion of these larger exhibits and final

finishes by the County Maintenance depart-ment will determine a grand opening date.After the grand opening, the actual transi-tion of collections from one building to theother will take place. This will allow for acontrolled move that will prevent loss ofartifacts and will give staff time to updatethe records relating to artifact storage. Thispart of the move is estimated to take sixmonths. After the move, the former facilitywhich is located at the corner of FifthAvenue and Main Street (Conway, SC) willbe vacated and all museum operations willbe isolated to the Burroughs building andthe Living History Farm.

US Hwy. 17/SC 22 Boat LandingA new boat landing will be located on theIntracoastal Waterway, immediately north ofUS Hwy. 17 and SC 22 interchange.The pur-pose of the project is to provide public accessto the Intracoastal Waterway for boating andrelated activities, as currently the nearest pub-lic boat landings on the waterway with pavedparking are nine miles to the north and 13miles to the south of the site.

The $1.5 million project will include a 28-foot wide, two-lane concrete boat ramp on

the Intracoastal Waterway and will featurea 200 linear foot floating dock along theshoreline that will connect to the boatramp. The paved parking lot will have park-ing spaces sized to accommodate 40 vehi-cles with boat trailers. Access to the sitewill be provided from Kings Road betweenUS Hwy. 17 and the Myrtle Beach Mall.Sidewalks will also be installed from theparking lot to the boat ramp and floatingdock.

The boat landing is a cooperative projectand is funded by the County TransportationCommittee, which paid to provide the accessroadway and parking lot.The boat ramp andother related items are funded by the HorryCounty Recreation Department, US Fish andWildlife Services, and the South CarolinaDepartment of Natural Resources.

The boat landing is expected to be open bysummer.

Horry County Museum

A Look to the Future -


The Terminal Capacity EnhancementProject (TCEP) continues to move forwardand remains on budget. The Airport’snew car rental facility will open for publicuse on January 30, 2013. Recently, MBKahn, the projects general contractorannounced a slight adjustment to deliv-ery schedules related to the terminalbuilding. The Airport is scheduled toreceive its Certificate of Occupancy onMarch 19, 2013.

The car rental facility, a component of theTerminal Capacity Enhancement Project atMyrtle Beach International Airport, is now

open. The sleek modern structure willhouse operations of the rental car compa-nies (Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Fox,Hertz, Payless, National/Alamo, Thrifty andU-Save) operating at Myrtle BeachInternational Airport. The lobby area has6 light monitors to allow natural light intothe lobby. The cur-tain wall system alsoincluded operablewindows to allow forfresh air and ventila-tion. The servicecounters are made ofPaperstone, a certi-

fied (FSC, Smartwood, Rainforest Alliance)post-consumer, recycled paper architec-tural surface material made with 100 per-cent petroleum-free, phenolic resins; it isan eco-friendly solid surface material.The new 10,981 square foot rental carbuilding was designed by inFORM studio,

Myrtle Beach International Airport

Timbes Architectural Group and LS3PAssociates and houses rental car offices, aswell as service counters. The building waspaid for from Customer Facility Charges.

The terminal building is slated to receiveits Certificate of Occupancy March 19,2013, and will open shortly thereafter to

the public. The facility now has ceramictile and carpet laid in over 90 percent ofthe building. The millwork for airline tick-et counter and gate hold podiums is inthe process of being installed. Furniturehas been delivered and remains undercover until substantial completion of theproject. The baggage handling systems

continue to go through extensive testing.All jet bridges has been installed, and areoperational with power. The airport back-up generator has arrived and beeninstalled. Fire suppression system havestarting the testing process required to becertified. The terminal project remains onbudget.

Project Updates

Fiscal YearA fiscal year (FY) is the 12-month budget cycle; it’susually different than a calendar year. In HorryCounty, FY 2012 runs from July 1, 2011, to June 30,2012.

General FundFY 2012: $130 millionWhen people talk about the county’s budget, theyusually mean the General Fund. The General Fund is acombination of real and personal property taxes,vehicle taxes, documentary stamps, business licenses,building permit fees, Master-in-Equity fees, and otherfees and fines.


Other FundsThe balance of the County’s budget is made up ofSpecial Revenue Funds, Capital Projects Fund, DebtService Funds, Proprietary Fund and Internal ServiceFunds. All of these funds are restricted for a particularpurpose. Examples include Parks & Recreation Fund,Waste Management Fund, Fire Fund, RoadMaintenance Fund, Beach Renourishment Fund andSenior Citizens Fund.

Horry County Total BudgetFY 2012: $299 millionThis combined total includes the General Fund andall other funds.

For a complete copy of the FY 2012 Budget, log onto www.horry.county.org/depts/finance/budget.

ASSESSED VALUES

Primary Residence 4 percent of market value

Rental & Secondary Property 6 percent of market value

Agricultural Real Property (privately owned) 4 percent of market value

Agricultural Real Property (corporate owned) 6 percent of market value

Commercial Real Property 6 percent of market value

Manufacturing Real & Personal Property 10.5 percent of market value

Utility Real & Personal Property 10.5 percent of market value

Personal Property (other than airplanes & boats) 10.5 percent of market value

Airplanes 4 percent of market value

Boats 6 percent of market value

Personal Vehicles 6 percent of market value

Special Funds The General Fund provides for many county services, but other Special Funds also pro-vide services to residents. These funds can be described in these broad terms:

• Fire Fund• Waste Management• County Recreation• GIS/IT Special Revenue• E-911 Emergency Telephone• Accommodations Tax• Victim Witness Assistance• Road Maintenance • Socastee Community Recreation• Beach Renourishment• Watersheds

• Arcadian Shores• Senior Citizens• Baseball Stadium • Industrial Parks • Aynor Business Park • Stormwater Management

Enterprise Funds/Internal ServiceFundsEnterprise funds come from the col-lection of fees associated with pro-

viding the service or program.Internal Service funds account forthe goods and services provided byone department to other depart-ments of the government on a costreimbursement basis.

• Department of Airports• Fleet Maintenance Internal Service

Special revenue funds are largely restricted to a specific purpose, service, or program and may include tax-basedrevenues. For example:

Budget Basics

Maintaining Our Financial Stability

Budget-in-Brief

Maintaining Our Financial Stability


The County’s revenue comes from manyplaces, including state funds, real and per-sonal property taxes, business licenses, andrestricted funds like parks and recreation,beach renourishment, fire fund and roadmaintenance fees. When people talk about

the budget, they usually mean the GeneralFund, but the services that residents receiveactually come from other sources (seeBudget Basics). These charts reflect the dif-ferent types of revenue the County receivesand how it is spent by function.

Fiscal Year 2012 (expressed in thousands)

Fiscal Year 2012 (expressed in thousands)

The tax revenues in the FY 2012 budgetwere based on assessed values after re-assessment and the rollback of millage incompliance with state law. The GeneralFund millage rolled back to 34.8 millsfrom the previous millage of 36.7.However, the FY 2012 budget included a.3 mill tax increase and a .5 mill shift fromthe Recreation Fund to the General Fund.Although County Council approved a .3mill tax increase, the FY 2012 budget wasa very austere budget and it did meetthe current fiscal needs of County gov-ernment operations.

The FY 2012 budget included the un-funding of 84 positions as an ongoingcost savings measure. These positionswere not funded in the FY 2012 budgetand, though not formally deleted, couldnot be refilled unless approved byCounty Council.

The FY 2012 budget included the addi-tion of 36 new positions. These positionswere added in seven different depart-ments within the three divisions. TheAdministration Division received eightpositions for the Assessor’s Office,Treasurer’s Office, the Department ofAirports and the Library. The PublicSafety Division received four newtelecommunicator positions, which werefor E911. These positions were added tohandle the City of Conway PoliceDepartment’s dispatching, which is fund-ed by the City of Conway. TheInfrastructure and Regulation Divisionreceived 24 seasonal, part-time recre-ation leaders for the Parks & RecreationDepartment.

The County’s goal is to use its resourcesto maintain quality of life for the resi-dents and to have reserve funds to helpus respond to future fiscal challengesand natural disasters. To keep movingprojects forward, the County also aggres-sively pursues other sources of funding,including federal and state grants.

*OTHER INCLUDES HG TECH & HIGHER EDUCATION COMMISSION - 1.71%,HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES - 0.86%, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT - 0.51% & MISCELLANEOUS - 0/02%

Top photo: Ramp C Backgate Interchange, Middle photo: Ramp D Backgate Interchange, Bottom photo, Aynor Overpass

ORIGINAL BUDGET: $76,000,000

REVISED BUDGET: $75-$80 million

ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: Summer 2016

CURRENT STATUS:

AynorOverpass



ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: Nov. 2012

CURRENT STATUS:• Completed Aug. 2012

• Preliminary engineering complete

• Right of way acquisition in progress

• Development of construction plans in progress

• Permit package has been submitted to the USACE

• Development of the final mitigation plan in progress

• Coordination with utility providers is ongoing

BackgateInterchange


REVISED BUDGET: $119,900,000 ($15M reim. grant acquired)

ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: Fall 2014

CURRENT STATUS:

• Temperance Connector complete

• Withers Connector, Portland Drive and Macklen Road complete

• Traffic shifted on two of the future ramps on the east side of the

intersection and the west side ramps are currently under

construction

• Construction 40% complete

Glenn’sBay Road

Hwy. 707Widening



ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: Fall 2016

CURRENT STATUS:

• Preliminary engineering complete

• Development of final construction plans and specifications

are substantially complete

• Right of way acquisition ongoing

• The combined SC-707 widening and SC-31 Extension permit

package is being revised and additional field work is being

performed to address non-compliance issues with the original

permit issued in 2000

Local OptionSales Tax

PASSED MAY 2007 – ENDS MAY 1, 2014

PROJECTED REVENUE - $425,307,500

COLLECTIONS TO DATE: $ 332,375,434 (11/1/2012)

Status Update

RIDE Project

letter to the citizens · the garden city parking lot were dedicated amoung others. more are...

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