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'Donut holes' but not the kind you eat: Forest Acres trying to fix an interesting jurisdictional problem

The city says it will help streamline emergency and trash services.

FOREST ACRES, S.C. — The City of Forest Acres is making a new effort to petition people to fill in the "donut holes" in the city.

Nearly 600 homeowners received postcards as part of the first phase of petitions.

"There's at least one other that I know of right around me that's in Richland County as well," Hunter Jarvis said. "I could tell because of their trash cans."

Jarvis lives in unincorporated Richland County in what's called a "donut hole" in Forest Acres.

"I live off of Briarfield Road, which I'm surrounded by Forest Acres home, but my taxes are technically Richland County."

According to Mayor Thomas Andrews, the inconsistency in address can lead to issues in emergencies and when providing services like trash pick up.

"I recently got a telephone call about potentially getting a stop sign on a street, and that person thinks they live in Forest Acres," Mayor Thomas Andrews said. "I mean, they contacted me, I went and pulled up their map; they don't actually live in Forest Acres."

The city is petitioning residents to help streamline services as they close the "donut holes." 

"As our population base grows, it makes us more available to get sort of state and federal government and lobby effectively for those types of grants and funds," the mayor said. "And so it allows for us to spend money and parks on more resources."

Jarvis said his uncle bought the house in the 1960s, but he never annexed it. Now it's up to him.

"I mean, I don't know what the difference would be apart from trash pick up and the difference in how you pay your taxes and everything at the end of the year," Jarvis said.

It's a concern the mayor said many residents have.

"Most people with a house under $375,000 of assessed values will actually save money by joining Forest Acres," Mayor Andrews said.

Jarvis said he still has things to consider.

"I would definitely love to see what the difference would be in terms of taxes and what people say about the different police departments," he said. "I don't lean one way or the other."

The city added that the annexation doesn't necessarily impact businesses unless they're housed in homes in the marked donut holes. Currently, the city is focused on incorporating residential homes.

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