’Where do I live?’ Horry-Georgetown County line causes confusion

HORRY-GEORGETOWN COUNTY, S.C. (WMBF) - A border battle at the Horry-Georgetown County line is causing confusion for 199 pieces of property.

For decades, some people have been living in the wrong county.

“The line that the counties have always observed is this teal line that runs south and so that’s what Georgetown and Horry counties always thought was the county line. What state law actually says is that the red line is the actual county line. So you have a lot of people who for decades assumed they were in Horry County, the counties assumed they were in Horry County but they were actually in Georgetown County," explained South Carolina state Rep. Russell Fry.

Voters will decide in November whether they want to stay in Horry County or become part of... — Voters will decide in November whether they want to stay in Horry County or become part of Georgetown County

This has caught some off guard.

“It was a big surprise so I was very interested in how this would proceed," one man said.

But this issue goes far beyond just changing an address. Bill Hills said he doesn’t live in the affected area but attended the town hall meeting on Thursday night because he said this is a multi-million dollar issue affecting those who live in both counties.

“Technically, Horry County should not have been collecting tax on that area. It’s millions of dollars that went to Horry County that should have gone to Georgetown County and on into the future,” Hills said.

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He added that he does believe the county line should be moved so the area is now legally part of Horry County, but Georgetown County needs to be compensated for this.

“There are millions and millions of dollars involved here,” Hills said.

The decision of whether the county line moves in this area is left up to those who live in the area.

And though everyone at the meeting said they will vote to stay in Horry County, what would happen if they decided to become a part of Georgetown County?

“Well, the next step would be to unplug everything from Horry County and transfer it to Georgetown County which would be a lengthy and costly process," Fry said.

Kids would have to change schools and utilities, car tags, and deeds would have to be changed. And that is just the tip of the iceberg on what would have to change.

Those affected by the county line will be able to vote on which county they’d rather live in on November 5.

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