News

October 28, 2008

City and County Join Services to Provide Combined Property Tax Bills

This year Hardeeville citizens will see a new combined property tax bill. Instead of receiving two separate property tax bills for county tax and city tax they will be receiving one bill with both amounts combined. The new tax bills will indicate separately the portion of tax that is to be collected for the City and for the County. Conveniently though, with the combined property tax bill citizens will only have to make one payment to the county treasurer. The county has been upgrading their property tax software and these changes are making it more convenient for the citizens when making inquiries, payments, or changes to their property tax bills. All property tax calculation methods will remain the same as in past years and the City of Hardeeville millage is still set at 153 mills.

October 23, 2008

Comprehensive Plan Being Updated

State law mandates plan be updated every ten years

The City's Planning and Zoning Department spent all of October 21 and 22 listening to residents, business owners and members of city staff. The two day charette, or planning meeting, kicked off the process of updating Hardeeville's Comprehensive Plan. The plan outlines a general path for development and zoning in the next ten years and enables Hardeeville to regulate zoning in city limits.

The South Carolina Local Government Comprehensive Planning Enabling Act of 1994 requires a review of the Comprehensive Plan at least every five years and an update of the plan at least once every ten years. The Comprehensive Plan serves as a long-range policy statement and guides CityCouncil, the Planning Commission, and City staff in making policy decisions over the next five to ten years. The plan is an expression of community goals identified throughout the update process.

The next step in updating the plan centers around a Quality of Life Survey. To take the survey click here or stop by City Hall. This survey will yield valuable information on the way residents see Hardeeville.

September 25, 2008

Hardeeville Fire/Rescue Receives Grant

Department of Homeland Security gives Hardeeville
$650,000 for firefighter personnel

The Department of Homeland Security announced Friday that Hardeevill will receive a federal grant enabling the city to hire six additional firefighters over the next five years. The grant pays a portion of the firefighters’ salaries and totals $650,000. The news means that Hardeeville Fire/Rescue will expand from nine full-time front line firefighters to fifteen within the next ninety days.

The grant governs a five-year period that starts with the federal government paying 70% of the new firefighter salaries and then annually reduces that share until the fifth and final year when the city will be responsible for their entire salaries.

Chief Dan Morgan of Hardeeville Fire/Rescue said, “The grant seems tailor made for Hardeeville. We have growth coming that will pay for these firefighters but it’s not here yet. The grant gets us out in front of that growth and that’s so important when you’re talking about maintaining service levels.”

Hardeeville Fire/Rescue maintains an ISO rating of three while operating two full time stations. The low ISO rating translates into insurance savings for residents and businesses as well as a source of pride for the department.

August 12th, 2008

Bill Horton Wins City Council Special Election

On Tuesday, August 12^th Mr. Bill Horton won a special election and is the city's newest Council Member. Mr. Horton beat out Anthony Altizer and Julie Bowman for the seat. He previously served on council from 2004 until this year when he declined to run for re-election opting to run for Mayor. The unofficial vote totals were as follows:

Bill Horton - 162

Anthony Altizer - 46

Julie Bowman - 40

July 15th, 2008

City Intern Program Underway

On Wednesday, June 9^th eight high school and college students began to get a taste of what it’s like to work for Hardeeville. The City has utilized interns on a intermediate basis before but this marks the first time that an official program for area youths has been implemented by City Hall. City Council feels that education is a key component to building a better community. By bringing students into City Hall they get to experience their government in action and take pride in a job well done.