North Carolina and South Carolina Correcting Their Borders

June 13th, 2016

Awake Goy

Carolinas to adjust boundary line

Legislators in North Carolina and South Carolina have agreed to redraw the boundary between their states. GPS technology confirms that the current border differs several hundred feet from the original boundary. Legislators of the two states aim to correct that error.

In 1735, King George II of England sent surveyors to his American colonies to draw a boundary between the Carolinas. The surveyors used the procedures and instruments of the day to determine the boundary, and put hatchet blows on trees to mark it. Through the years those trees disappeared. When the boundary line was drawn decades ago different surveying measures were used and the resulting boundary was not exactly the same as the original one.

The boundary change affects nineteen homes along the border. When it becomes official, sixteen homes now located in South Carolina will be located in North Carolina and three homes now located in North Carolina will be located in South Carolina. The change in residency will necessitate changes of address at the post office and deed changes for homes and other property. Taxes are also likely to change. Additionally, health care may be affected.

For people losing North Carolina residency, several items intended to ease their change of residency have been included in the legislation. Those residents and their dependents will be permitted to pay in-state tuition fees in the University of North Carolina system for the next ten years if they remain on the same property. Students in K-12 public school will be permitted to continue attending that school for free.

A convenience store currently located in South Carolina sells fireworks, beer and gas more inexpensively than North Carolina stores because of South Carolina’s lower gas taxes. The boundary change will cause the store to be located in North Carolina, and North Carolina will permit the store to continue selling beer, wine and gas at South Carolina rates until the store is sold to someone else.

South Carolina Speaker Pro Tem says he’d like to do more to help the constituents he’s about to lose but it’s up to North Carolina. A North Carolina State Senator said, “We’ve done all we can to accommodate folks.”