By J. Todd Davis
Mayor-City of Dillon, SC
2011 turned out to be a good year for the City of Dillon. The financial picture has never looked better during my tenure as Mayor.
The City of Dillon, just like other businesses and families throughout the community, has had to tighten its belt in regards to the number of staff and capital purchases.
Some other factors in getting us into this position include: collecting more property taxes than in prior years, an increase in business licenses and collecting more money in franchise fees than in prior years. The only immediate capital purchase need the city has is for a new bucket truck for our Street Department.
The City of Dillon is now looking into what we want to accomplish over the next twelve months and the next five to ten years. One immediate need is to address our alleys in the city. Saying they are in poor condition is an understatement. We will begin the process of bidding this work out in the spring or early summer.
Another concern is what to do with the old Dilmar Oil properties on East Main Street. These buildings include the former Belk’s Department store to the M&M Hair Supply store right behind King’s Pizza. M&M Hair is moving to another location that the city assisted them in obtaining. It was imperative that we did not close anyone down when we decided to take these buildings down. Plans are to demolish these buildings this spring. A parking lot would be constructed along with a green space. It is my opinion another business would be ideal on the west side of these lots toward the RR track. It would have some lighted parking available and the benefit of being right off Main Street. We have been involved in two major real estate transactions in the last few years that have worked out well. They were Lockemy Court off MacArthur Ave. and the property on the corner of Main Street and 1st Ave. that is now part of True Value Hardware. Both projects greatly
enhanced our downtown and have been good for both business and a quality of life standpoint. We think this next project will be as successful. The Board of Architectural Review will need to approve this beforehand.
The Wellness Center continues to fill a need for our citizens. This past fiscal year the facility ran in the red as we expected. We are looking for ways presently to cut costs, but we want the facility to remain in the family budget. In years past, the Wellness Center ran in the red by approximately $70,000. This deficit was easily made up by the two cent hot meals tax. This year, expenditures increased by ninety percent. The hot meal tax again paid this deficit, however expenses have got to come down.
One of our long-term goals was just recently met by getting the property owners off Hwy. 34 to agree to annex a small portion of their property into the city. We are currently in the final stages of getting all the proper paperwork to complete this task. The goal was to get Exit 190 annexed into the city. Annexation will help existing businesses out on Hwy. 34 and strengthen economic development around the industrial site.
The city continues to look for ways in helping enhance economic development. In many instances that involves having all the services and infrastructure available, being a good teammate in the process and getting out the way. For the past few years I’ve mentioned Dillon County’s best days are ahead. I still think that after seeing the industrial park and Mega Site sitting off I-95. Soon there will be more site consultants visiting Dillon County then ever in its history looking for industrial sites. The city also played a big part in getting the old Stuckey’s building down last year, and we look forward in being a partner in cleaning up the Exit 190 interchange.
We have done much in trying to make Dillon a better place to live. We think we have one of the best recreation programs in the State of South Carolina. That’s vital not only for our children in the City of Dillon but the entire community. We have all kinds of programs for our children and seniors held at first class facilities like the Wellness Center and the sports complex behind the National Guard Armory.
Lastly, we strive to please our citizens by making their lives easier. If there’s any way we can assist the people of Dillon we try to do it. We have a great administration working for the City of Dillon and our employees are the best in the business. They rarely say they can’t do something for the people who live here.